The Broken Trinity
by Magician April Aries
Summary: End chapter up. "There is no singular path where everything becomes right again.”
1. Prologue: Splintering

A/N: I just HAD to do something about this. Forgive me for betraying my Yuuri x Wolfram addiction! And, uh, warning: this fic is not beta'd. I do not have a beta, but I hope my writing comes up to scratch.

The Broken Trinity

By: Magician April Aries

* * *

Prologue: Splintering

Even at the best of times, the palace wasn't exactly quiet; there were always maids scurrying about, soldiers patrolling the halls, and of course the regular mishap occurring. Today, however, was one of _those _days.

"You _wimp!_ You _coward_! And you call yourself a king?!"

Passers-by winced at the loud, furious voice echoing down the halls. "I wonder what's gotten into Lord von Bielefeld this time?" whispered one of the chatty maids.

Another smiled knowingly. "It has to be another lover's quarrel with His Majesty."

"Wolfram, calm down!" they heard Yuuri holler back at the hot-tempered prince "I didn't mean it the way it sounded! Oh, for crying out loud—"

"Calm down?" Wolfram raged. "Just once, why don't you try growing a backbone? You _wimp_!"

"Put that down!" Yuuri yelled back. They heard the sound of something crashing against the wall.

"I'll bet that their room will be a real job to clean up later," sighed one of the maids.

"Do you think it's another cover-up for their passionate love for each other?" giggled one clutching a large basket piled with laundry.

"Oh no! I've been betting on Lord Weller all this time!" protested another one. "It has to be _them_. Didn't you see the necklace he gave His Majesty?"

"We all have," the first one answered tartly. "But that doesn't necessarily mean that His Majesty feels the same way about him. His heart already belongs to Lord von Bielefeld."

"What a tragic love for Lord Weller, then," sighed the other one, swooning.

"No, you're wrong. It's Lord von Bielefeld's love that's one-sided. His Majesty obviously returns Lord Weller's feelings."

Murata Ken smiled inwardly as he overheard their conversation. Since the past year, eh had abandoned the temple—Ulrike was managing admirably without him, perhaps even better without his distracting presence—and left it to attend to duties within the palace instead. Really, the palace maids meant no harm, and they were obviously bored stiff with their duties; besides, their idle gossip wasn't hurting anyone. Instead, he hurried past them with a polite greeting, which they duly returned.

But not without hearing them say, "What about the Great Sage?"

"Oh, His Highness? Well, he's a double black just like His Majesty. They're both from that other world. And they _are _close to each other. Maybe their friendship is just a mask for their deep love for each other!"

One of the soldiers passing by stared at the convulsive laughter on the Great Sage's face. "Your Highness, are you all right?"

"Perfectly fine, thank you," he replied, mildly irritated that he had had to stop to answer the question. Wasn't it obvious that he was in a hurry? "Go on, now."

As the soldier saluted him and marched away, the maids kept on mumbling something as they flitted back and forth from their duties. "What do you think about Lord von Bielefeld and the Great Sage?"

"You think that there's something there?" one of them asked.

"Well, they seem to treat each other differently. You know, Lord von Bielefeld usually goes crazy at the sight of His Majesty even _talking _to someone else. And even though he was the same way with the Great Sage at first, he doesn't bother anymore!"

"Ooh, you're right!"

Murata's smile vanished.

* * *

By the time that the Great Sage had gotten to them, they were already past the screaming-and-ranting stage, and had moved on to the Wolfram-sulking-as-Yuuri-tried-to-appease-him stage. Later on there would be the Yuuri-gave-up stage, and the young king would stalk off to do something else; probably baseball, if Günter didn't force him into one of his lessons. And that would be followed by the Wolfram-awkwardly-apologizes-while-insulting-him stage, with Yuuri readily accepting just so that they could be friends again. 

"Hello," Murata said as he stuck his head in. The rest of the palace would rather have died than face the wrath of the quarreling twosome, and they considered the Great Sage to be either very brave or very stupid. "What's all the noise about?"

Yuuri made an exasperated noise. "Wolfram here—"

"Oh, so now it's _my _fault?" Wolfram shot back sharply.

"That's _not _what I said! Can't a king say two words without being accused around here?"

Murata gave them one of his placid smiles. "I see that there's a bit of a conflict here…"

Wolfram shook his head. "I'm going out," he said abruptly, walking by the Great Sage to exit the room.

"You should really keep your temper in check," Murata murmured as he passed him.

"You think that I don't know that, Great Sage?" was Wolfram's dull reply.

Yuuri rubbed the back of his neck. "It really wasn't my fault, Murata. He just flew off the handle like he usually does."

"What were you going on about, anyway?"

The king shrugged. "I was telling him about home."

"Home?"

"Yeah. Japan. You know… earth." Yuuri's eyes clouded. "He seemed upset for some reason when I told him all about our school and our friends and my family. Then he asked me why I was still here, if I liked it so much. And then I told him that I liked this place too. He asked me to choose, and I said that I couldn't."

Murata sighed. There were times when Shibuya Yuuri could be very, very dense. "Listen, Shibuya…"

"Are you going to tell me that I was insensitive again?"

"Yes."

Yuuri threw his hands up in frustration. "Well, what was I supposed to say? How about, 'Gee, Wolfram, you're right! Maybe I should just abandon this place! Or better yet, abandon my family and home forever!'"

"I'm not blaming you for saying what you did, Shibuya. But Wolfram's a bit…"

"Insane, is the right word," Yuuri mumbled.

Murata could see a lost battle. Yuuri was annoyed, and also partly in the right. At this point, he would have to take the battle elsewhere if he hoped to mend things between the two. "Okay, okay. I'll see you later."

"Where are you going?"

"To see Wolfram, naturally."

Yuuri's expression cleared. "Oh." He hesitated a moment. "When you see him, tell him I'm sorry, will you?" he asked awkwardly. "I don't know exactly what I did wrong, but I can tell that I upset him. And I didn't mean to. I just… well, tell him that I love it here. That I consider it to be my home as well as Japan."

"Sure, I'll tell him."

The young king smiled. "Thanks for being a mediator again, Murata. Sure it isn't too much trouble for you?"

"No problem."

* * *

The hardest part about this was the let's-look-for-Wolfram part of the game. He could be anywhere, depending on what part of his currently mixed-up, pissed off mind was controlling him at the moment. He searched the training grounds, the garden, even retraced his steps to see if Wolfram had decided to return to his room with Yuuri. Eventually he found him in the bath. 

Wolfram blinked at him from the middle of the enormous bath, bubbles and pink mist all around him. "You found me," he said, looking less angry than before. "I figured that now that you're finished with the wimp, you would locate me eventually. Although I rather hoped that you wouldn't think of coming here."

"I looked everywhere else. I was bound to come here eventually."

Wolfram sighed. "That wimp makes me so mad sometimes." He frowned. "Could you go? I'm kind of… you know, bathing?"

"Shibuya told me to tell you he was sorry," Murata said, instead sitting down near the edge of the gigantic… well, it was hardly a tub; more like a chest-deep swimming pool, really. "He said that this place is his home too."

"I'm over it by now, really," Wolfram returned, completely forgetting that he had just asked the Great Sage to leave. "I just wish that sometimes, you know, he would make a choice. About his real home."

"He will, eventually. He has to."

"And about me."

"He'll have to choose about that too."

"I tried to be patient, I really have. I know that he's going against a lifetime of teachings and principles here. But for all his preaching of free love and whatever, he sure is a hypocrite."

Murata smiled sadly down at him. "Whatever choice Shibuya makes…"

"It's up to him now," Wolfram said, cutting him off He ducked under the water with a splash.

"And what if he doesn't love you, Wolfram?" Murata wondered softly. It was a good thing that the young prince couldn't hear him underwater, or else he would have either received a scathing comment or a pensive one. He didn't know which he would have preferred.

Wolfram resurfaced, his green eyes now tranquil. "Okay, I have to apologize to the wimp too," he said reluctantly. "I guess I did overreact. Can you toss me that towel?" He caught it deftly. "Thanks." He dried his hair with it. Then he hesitated. "Uh… would you mind…?"

"Oh. Yes, I understand," Murata said, immediately retreating. He left, closing the door behind him. _Oh Shinou… if Shibuya doesn't love him back, what then?_

* * *

A/N: Okay, okay, I know it isn't all that great yet, but I promise to upload soon if I get enough people interested in this. So please review? ; ) I reply to all reviews, and I appreciate the criticism along with the praise._  
_

* * *


	2. SwordsAndSlumber,TheLiesInOurSleep

A/N: Ooh... thank you so much to all who reviewed! Namely: maldita08, Princess Sin, shagshag, Bogizan89, Howl3, YukiEiri4, phantome101, lazy fat kitsune, Yuuram88, contravene431, HADmatter, and especially starlight2005. My first major exam is over (which lasted for five hours straight without a break) and now I have the energy to update! That, and the fact that I told some of the reviewers that they could use my ribcage for a doorstop if I didn't update this week. Unforutnately, this is only a brief break between finishing my Physics notes, so... without further ado, I present to you chapter one.

* * *

Chapter One: Swords and Slumber, the Lies in our Sleep 

The clash of steel against steel; it was a sound that Wolfram thrilled to, a siren song that made his blood quicken. He found the sounds of a sword to be one of the most beautiful pieces of music in the world.

"Hey Wolfram," Yuuri said. He had accompanied Wolfram to training, at the blonde's insistence that he should learn some swordsmanship, but Wolfram was busy teaching some of his private guards. Inwardly, he thought of them as the blonde squad; all of them seemed to have hair in some shade of yellow. He was getting a headache, being surrounded by all these blue-clad, golden-haired boys. "Aren't you getting tired?"

"Not in the least," Wolfram said, parrying a blow from the soldier he was battling. "And stop distracting me, Yuuri, I'm busy here."

Yuuri sighed. He had only gone along because he didn't want a repeat of yesterday's fight, and because Wolfram had assured him that Conrart would be his teacher later in the day. He had already tried having Wolfram teach him and all that he had learned was that he should never, ever try to have the hot-tempered prince for a teacher.

Although he did have to admit, Wolfram was completely transformed when he was fighting. His cheeks flushed, and his eyes lit up; it made a nice change to see him so happy and enthusiastic about something.

"Yes, he's a glorious sight, isn't he?"

Yuuri jumped. "Murata! Don't sneak up on me like that."

"You didn't hear me coming." The Great Sage sat down beside him. "Watching your fiancé?"

"I'm waiting for Conrart, that's all. Wolfram said that he'd show up today."

"Ah, so Captain Weller is returning." Conrart had been away for several days with Jossak, inspecting the borders for one reason or another. "That's good news. The castle misses his calm presence."

Yuuri shrugged. "I'm just glad to have my godfather back."

"Why don't you have Wolfram teach you?"

Wolfram came over to them, wiping away the perspiration on his brow. Evidently he had just defeated the other man. "Because the wimp here would never be able to stand my training," he answered, sheathing his sword. "Hello, Great Sage, you're late today, I see." Yuuri puzzled over the comment, but neither Wolfram not Murata elaborated on it.

Instead, Wolfram sighed. "Isn't Lord Weller here yet?"

"He and Jossak may have gotten delayed. Probably they're giving a report to Gwendal."

"That would explain it," agreed Wolfram. "Either that, or Anissina's roped them into being guinea pigs for her latest experiment."

"Heaven forbid. I want them back in one piece," protested Yuuri.

Wolfram smiled. "Excuse me, but I have to get back to training."

"He's a lot more patient when he's handling his guards," Murata noted.

"Yeah. He loves them," Yuuri said. "It's amazing to see him so tolerant when they make mistakes. Although, on his off days when he's in a bad mood, he usually gives them a hard time."

Murata watched Wolfram demonstrate the proper grip to one of his comrades. "I know. I watch them train everyday."

Oh. That kind of explained the earlier comment. "Why?"

"It's a pleasure to do so. I have nothing else to do, for one thing. And besides, it helps if I familiarize myself with his soldiers. They're useful." Murata smirked. "They're all very much in love with your fiancé, you know."

"What?" Yuuri said, shocked. He looked back at them. He saw Wolfram position one soldier's hands on the sword, and he saw the cadet trembling, his cheeks flushed. The others were looking on enviously. "I never really noticed before."

"And they're all insanely jealous of you," Murata added. He was trying to keep in his laughter at the sight of Yuuri's face. "It's interesting, though. They consider you to be the most fortunate of men."

"Because I'm betrothed to Wolfram?"

"Yup. Hard as it may be for you to believe, Your Majesty, they want to be in your place. Every single one of them." He smiled. "Wolfram is… how did they say it? Very cool."

"Man…"

Wolfram was sweating heavily, and the white fabric of his shirt was clinging to his skin. Annoyed, he just took it off and tossed it to one side—normally he would never have done that, but ever since Yuuri had come along, he had learned that it wasn't _that _embarrassing to go around half-clothed. "Let's go through that again, Devon," he told the cadet, positioning himself behind him, his arms around the soldier. "Grip it like this."

Devon blushed even more. "Yes, Lord von Bielefeld!"

"That will do," Wolfram said. "Very good." He released his hold on him. "That's much better. Just remember to keep practicing."

"That's Devon. One of the new recruits. That's why Wolfram's been training a lot with him," Murata explained to Yuuri as Wolfram moved on to another cadet.

Yuuri, however, wasn't focusing on that. "Doesn't Wolfram even realize the way that they're looking at him?" he said. "I mean, taking his shirt off like that—!"

"I'm sure that you've seen him bare-chested before. Does it offend you?"

"Of… of course not!" Yuuri sputtered. "But it's… it's disgusting."

"What's so disgusting about it?" Murata turned his eyes on Wolfram. He was beautiful. "If you ask me, he's anything but disgusting."

"I don't mean _Wolfram _is disgusting." He hesitated. "The way that they look at him..."

"He's good-looking. They're simply admiring that." Murata chuckled. "It's nothing to do with you if they're looking at him with 'bedroom eyes'—at least, I believe that's how they say it. After all, you can't see whatever dirty thoughts they may be thinking."

Yuuri let out a strangled sound. "That… is just…"

He was saved by Conrart coming up from behind them. "Hello, Lord Weller," Murata greeted him, ending Yuuri's indignant spluttering.

"About time!" Wolfram called out, momentarily halting his troops' training. His men all saluted Conrart. "Men, you are dismissed for the day. You can train by yourselves if you wish."

"Yes, sir."

Wolfram paused. "Devon, I want you to take extra practice with me later tonight."

Devon's cheeks heated. "Y… yes, Lord von Bielefeld," he said.

"At ease, cadet."

"Sorry, Wolfram," Conrart apologized as the blonde squad went away in a chattering mass of Bielefeld blue—many of them were congratulating Devon or asking if they could come along. "I had to give a full report to Gwendal first."

Wolfram's face softened. "Understood."

Conrart turned back to Yuuri. "Your Majesty—"

"My name is Yuuri."

Conrart smiled. "All right, sorry. Yuuri. Shall we go?"

Wolfram sat down beside Murata, taking Yuuri's place. He grinned at the Great Sage. "I hope that Lord Weller gives that wimp a real workout."

"Here," Murata said, handing him a towel and fresh shirt.

"Thank you," Wolfram said, accepting them. "My troops are getting better every day that I see them."

"And they all fall in love with you a little bit more every day."

Wolfram reddened. "They're very loyal to me, I acknowledge that. But I don't really appreciate that joke, Great Sage."

Murata shrugged. "Is it my fault that it's so easy to fall in love with you, Lord von Bielefeld?"

Really, it was immensely entertaining to see him blush so much. "Murata!"

"Sorry, sorry," the Great Sage, duly surrendering. "You're really very handsome when you blush like that."

Wolfram reddened even more. It was rare that he was flustered like this. "I'm going to…" He fumbled for an excuse. "Well, I'm going to do… something."

"I'm only teasing, Wolfram. Don't go."

The prince seemed undecided for a moment. "Oh, all right," he said grudgingly.

"Thank you."

* * *

Evening had already fallen when Conrart decided to stop. "That's enough for today, Yuuri." 

Yuuri was only glad that Conrart was so nice about his training. Wolfram _never_ took it easy on him—he inevitably went to bed feeling so tired and bruised that he could barely move without feeling pain. "Okay, Conrart. You sure that we're done?"

"Of course, Your Majesty. And I must admit that I have some ulterior motives as well—I'm going out tonight."

His eyebrows shot up. "Gee, Conrart, I never thought that you were a ladies' man."

Conrart looked both amused and uncomfortable. "Ah, no. I'm not. Its just Jossak. The two of us have some time off later, and we decided it would be nice o have some drinks and reminisce a little about old times."

"Oh."

"You go and relax as well, Yuuri. I think that Günter has something new planned for your lessons tomorrow. I passed by his room and he was humming something about… well, I don't really want to spoil the surprise."

Yuuri flinched. Oh, God. The last time Günter had 'something new' for his lessons, he ended up… well, it was really better not to think about it. "I don't suppose you could arrange for me to be busy tomorrow?"

"Sorry, Your Majesty," Conrart said, laughing. "You're on your own with this one. Good night."

Yuuri nodded back absent-mindedly. He noticed Wolfram and Murata. Wolfram was fast asleep, his head on Murata's shoulder.

"Hey, Shibuya," Murata greeted him. "Done for the day, I see."

"Hey. Wolfram's out?"

"For the count," confirmed Murata. "Guess all that training gets to him after all." He smiled. "He didn't want to admit it, but soon enough he was nodding off. I didn't really have the heart to push his head off me."

As though in reply, Wolfram shifted a little and mumbled something, burrowing his face in closer.

"Wolfram, wake up," Murata said, shaking him gently.

"No, let him sleep," Yuuri said. It was hard to believe that this sleeping, angelic young man was such a demon when he was awake. He looked so innocent when he slumbered.

"Sorry, no can do. He told me that he has to meet with that cadet Devon tonight, in a few minutes." Murata shook Wolfram again. "Wolfram."

Finally he opened one emerald eye. "I'm awake," he mumbled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes like a little child. It was…

"So cute!" whispered one of the watching maids from their hiding spot behind some foliage. "Lord von Bielefeld is such a god!"

"But did you see how wonderful he and His Highness looked together? Oh, I could just _die!_" giggled another.

Wolfram flushed bright red. "You should have stopped me," he scolded Murata. "I'm sorry for falling asleep on you like that."

"It's okay. You were tired."

"His Majesty looks confused," noted one of the maids. "What do you think this means for his relationship with Lord von Bielefeld?"

"But they were doing so well together! And besides, they sleep in the same bed."

"I wonder how His Majesty will be punishing him later tonight," said another. They all giggled madly at the insinuation.

"So you're finally done, wimp," Wolfram said, shaking his hair out of his eyes. "Did Lord Weller go easy on you as usual?"

"If you mean, 'Did Conrart _not _put you through my training camp of doom?' then yes, he went easy on me."

"Typical." Wolfram wanted to keep on sleeping. Murata's shoulder was rather comfortable, now that he thought about it.

"I'm going to go on up and take a bath," said Yuuri. "You coming up too, Murata?"

"No, it's okay. I'll just go up with Wolfram later. I don't really feel like going back right now." Murata waved at him. "Good night, Shibuya."

"Good night." Yuuri looked falteringly at Wolfram. "Ah, I'll wait up for you…"

"Thanks," Wolfram said, looking pleased. "But you should just go to bed. I'm sure that you're tired, even if Lord Weller gave you namby-pamby training."

Yuuri laughed and left. Murata smiled at Wolfram. "Fully awake now?"

"Yes," Wolfram said, hastily swallowing back his yawn. "I don't know what got into me."

Murata simply smiled. "I see your cadet is here now."

"Devon. Right on time," Wolfram said approvingly.

The young man nervously pushed back his curly blonde hair. "Good evening. Lord von Bielefeld. Your Highness," he added quickly. It was actually a breach of protocol to greet Wolfram before Murata, but almost all of Wolfram's cadets invariably did it. Even to Yuuri. Anyway, Murata didn't mind in the least.

"I'm sorry to take time from your evenings, but you're new, and you really need the extra practice," Wolfram apologized.

"Your Majesty?" one of the maids squeaked as Yuuri darted into the bushes, not expecting to see a group of maids clustered there. He turned bright red once he saw them.

"I, uh… I'm just…"

"Is something wrong, Your Majesty?"

Murata turned to look at the shrubbery, tilting his head to one side. He smiled—no, smirked was probably the right term.

Yuuri looked embarrassed. "I, I was just, examining the… the bushes." He did an abrupt three-sixty and ran off.

"You know," one of them said in a hushed voice, "I think he wanted to spy on Lord von Bielefeld."

"Oh, how romantic!"

* * *

"I marvel at you," Murata told Wolfram as they climbed back up the stairs to the castle. "In only a week, Devon's been doing so well. Almost as though he'd been inspired." Secretly, he thought that the young cadet _had _been inspired—by Wolfram, that is. "His progress is amazing. He has a lot of potential." 

"Yes, he has. He'll be even better, given more time," Wolfram replied with a satisfied nod. "I have high hopes for him."

"I'm going to see Shibuya," Murata added.

"Oh, okay. See if the wimp's still up. I'm going to take a bath." Wolfram nodded at him. "See you later."

Murata watched with affection as he walked away. He looked so very, very like him… the similarity was enough to make his head spin, as illogical as it was. Then again, love itself wasn't very logical, was it? "Shinou, this could destroy us all," he whispered, shaking his head.

"Murata!" Yuuri said in surprise when he came in the door after knocking. "Hey, I wasn't expecting you. So Wolfram's done for the day?"

"Yeah, he went off to wash."

"Uh, any special reason why you're here?"

Murata shrugged. "Oh, nothing. I just wanted to know if there's something that you have to tell me."

Yuuri hesitated for a fraction of a second. "No, there's nothing," he said firmly. A little too firmly, perhaps.

"Shibuya, I'm not going to pry anything out of you before you're ready to say a word."

"There's really nothing," he said with conviction.

"If that's your answer, then… I'll just let things take their course," Murata said.

"Hey, Murata… do you have… you know, anyone?"

"I do not 'have' anyone, Shibuya," he replied. "Although I think I get the general gist of what you mean. No, I don't."

"Oh," Yuuri said.

"Why did you just ask that?"

"It just popped into my head." Yuuri was looking uncomfortable now.

Murata sighed. "Shibuya, I'm worried about you. And about Wolfram."

"Do you mean us separately, or…?"

"Both, actually. Your relationship with him is making me anxious. The way you react to him. I think that you love him."

"I'm not gay!"

Murata's eyes narrowed. "I make no distinctions about the norms, Shibuya. There's nothing wrong with loving someone of the same gender. It's completely normal. I thought that you were the one who said that love is held by no bounds."

"I know," Yuuri said. "I know that I said that. But whoever said that I cared for Wolfram?"

The Great Sage stared at him. "I can't believe that you just said that."

Yuuri paused. "I… I didn't mean to. That was a mistake."

"Do you, then?"

"As a friend, yes, I do! But do you even realize what you're asking here? I don't love Wolfram!"

"I think it was a mistake, coming here," Murata murmured. He had probably just made things a lot worse. But he couldn't' just sit back and watch them do nothing. He was fed up with it, he really was. And if he didn't act on Yuuri's behalf soon, he might have been tempted to act on his own behalf. "But I couldn't leave it, Shibuya. That thing in the bushes awhile ago—"

"I was just examining the leaves!"

"With the maids," Murata added skeptically. "Now, I have two theories. Either you were spying on Wolfram—and I see no reason for you not to, as he's wonderfully attractive, and I daresay that almost anyone would want to watch him; however, if you'd wanted to do that, you could have just stayed with me and waited until he was done. Or you were having a quick rendezvous with one of the maids."

Yuuri's cheeks flamed. "No, of course not! I would never have done that!" He sounded so guilty…

"Then what was going on?"

"I really don't know," Yuuri said, his head hanging down in defeat. "Murata… I order you to leave."

"You _order _me?"

Yuuri's head shot up. "I… didn't mean it like that," he said, looking horrified.

Murata just nodded. "Good night, Your Majesty. I apologize if I caused you any emotional trauma," he said, his eyes a little colder than usual. He turned his back and yanked the door open.

And found himself staring right at Wolfram, who was standing beside the door.

The blonde had his arms folded tightly across his chest, as though he had been shielding himself from heavy blows. "So."

"Wolfram, how long have you been there?"

"Long enough," the prince said abruptly. "I was going to get something from the room before having my bath. I thought that I shouldn't barge in on your little conversation, and I stopped outside to stand guard against any eavesdroppers. Turns out that I became the eavesdropper myself."

"He's waiting for you," Murata said. "You mustn't think that he meant what he said. He just wasn't thinking. What he says isn't necessarily what he feels."

"I know," Wolfram said hollowly. "All the same, I don't think that I can face him right now."

Murata understood. "Okay. You'll have to double up with one of the guards in the rooms… or maybe with Conrart, or Gwendal…"

But wild panic flitted across Wolfram's face at the very mention of it. "I would have to tell them what happened. They'd know that something was wrong with Yuuri and me. I don't…"

Murata finally wrenched the words out of him. "You can stay with me, then." He had definitely not foreseen this happening. And yet, maybe he had subconsciously known that this all would. Maybe he even wanted it to.

"Did you see that?" one of the maids whispered, wide-eyed.

"Oh no! Lord von Bielefeld and the Great Sage have finally made their move! I feel so sorry for His Majesty…"

"No, I think I feel more sorry for Lord von Bielefeld." One of them shook her head. "Why do you think he looked so sad?"

* * *

Conrart was already on his fifth drink with Jossak when they heard a loud knock. "Yuuri, what are you doing up so late?" 

"It's Wolfram," Yuuri said. "He's… gone."

"Gone?"

"He was just taking a bath," he groaned. "I waited for hours before looking. He wasn't there."

"Well, he might have just gone for a walk, or something," Jossak said. "I wouldn't really worry about it if I were you."

"Wolfram can take care of himself," agreed Conrart. "I think that he can handle any trouble that comes his way. Besides, the castle's swarming with guards. And… I hate to say it, but you two had a fight yesterday, didn't you? Günter told us that you two had another one of those yelling sessions."

"Yeah, but we already made up with each other," protested Yuuri. "He and I were already cool about it."

"He might still be upset about you, but hiding it," Jossak advised wisely. "Maybe he went off to cool his head. Don't worry, Your Majesty. If I were you, I would just get some sleep."

Conrart smiled reassuringly. "If you're really all that worried, Jossak and I will have a look around before we turn in, all right? Just relax, Yuuri. You're exhausted. We'll wake you up if something's wrong.

"Okay, okay," Yuuri said blearily. "Goodnight."

The second he left, Jossak took one long at Conrart's tense face and sighed. "You're worried about him. You just didn't want His Majesty to freak out."

"Yes. Jossak, I'm sorry to cut our little chat short, but could we…?"

"Look for him? Of course."

Murata watched Wolfram as he slept. There was something so pure about him as he dreamt. He saw tears seeping out from beneath the young prince's eyelids, and he wanted to hit Yuuri. Wolfram didn't want him to see his real feelings, he knew, but he already had. Behind that calm veneer was so much pain.

"I just wanted you to be happy," he murmured disconsolately, tentatively reaching out a hand and stroking his fine golden hair. _Oh Shinou, what on earth am I doing? I have to stop this._

Wolfram sighed in his sleep. He noticed that he took up a lot of space and tended to hog the blankets, but contrary to Yuuri's typical complaints, he didn't kick Murata off the bed. Instead, he snuggled in a little bit closer, burrowing himself into the sheets. Somehow his head ended up on Murata's chest.

Murata felt himself go cold. Wolfram wasn't exactly making it easy for him.

He heard someone knock softly on his door. Not good.

Conrart stuck his head in. "Great Sage?"

Murata couldn't move without disturbing Wolfram. Instead, he feigned sleep. He would explain to Lord Weller in the morning.

Jossak followed Conrart in. "Whoa. So this is where the little brat ended up."

"At least he's safe," Conrart murmured, taking in the intimate scene. "Yuuri had me worried there for a second."

As Conrart spoke, Wolfram let out a sleepy murmur and his arm moved, draping itself over Murata. _Holy…_

"I don't think that we should tell His Majesty about this," Jossak said.

"No, neither do I. I have no idea what's going on, but…" Conrart sighed. "Let's just tell him that Wolfram's safe and sound. He doesn't have to know about this."

Now Murata started to feel guilty. They made it sound… so… _wrong._ As though Wolfram would do anything like that. He would never, ever try to get back at Yuuri in this way, no matter how angry and hurt he might have felt. It was innocent. _He _was innocent.

"Let's go, Jossak," Conrart whispered, tugging on his arm.

Inside his room, Yuuri was tossing and turning. It seemed strange to actually be able to sleep properly without being worried about getting kicked off the bed. Usually he would have loved such an opportunity, but right now all he could think about was Wolfram. It felt weird without the other boy's presence beside him.

Conrart was looking for him. _He's fine, _he thought, repeating it over and over again like a mantra in his head. Conrart had promised that if something was wrong, he would come and wake him up. Since Conrart wasn't there… Wolfram had to be fine.

Wolfram's dreams were fractured and restless. Yuuri was talking to Murata. "No, I don't love him. What the heck's wrong with you? It's disgusting and _wrong_."

"There's nothing wrong with it!"

"I LOVE YOU!" the cry tore itself out of Wolfram's guts. "God, I love you so much that I think I would die for you."

Yuuri stared at him. "Then die."

Murata heard him let out a sob even in his sleep. He looked down at the pained face beneath him. Dear Shinou…

"Why do you hate me so much?" Wolfram said.

"I don't hate you. I just want you gone. Aren't you sick of being a thorn in my side?"

"I am! I'm sick of it. I've waited for how many years. You gave me so much to hope for. You never pushed me away. If you didn't want me around, why didn't you just tell me the truth?"

"Because you're such a prima donna!" Yuuri snapped back. "If I told you, you would have gone on and on about it. And it's not like I don't have _enough _to bother me. Look at you now, being the usual childish Wolfram!"

Murata wrapped his arms tightly around Wolfram. He was getting a general idea of what the prince was talking about. He was talking in his sleep; he wondered whether Shibuya noticed it, but he doubted it. Shibuya slept pretty soundly. "Please don't suffer," he whispered.

"I don't think I can do this anymore," Wolfram whispered. Murata held him close, letting the tears seep into his pajama top without complaint.

"I've had enough."

"Shibuya, I've had enough of this as well," Murata said angrily, going to Wolfram's side. "You don't know how much you have. How much you're throwing away."

Wolfram surrendered himself to Murata's embrace, both in the dream and in his waking world.

* * *

A/N: Whoo... that was longer than I'd intended... I'm still working on another one of my fics, in another fandom, so I get kind of mixed up. I apologize, I know that it's kind of lackluster so far, but I'd really love to hear your input on it so far. Man... reading what I just wrote kind of makes me pissed off at Yuuri, although I have to say that after having experience with my incredibly homophobic friends, it makes sense. They'd rather cut off their right hands than say that they're gay. 

More reviews equals faster updates. Promise!

* * *


	3. Patience, Prejudice and Paradigm Shifts

A/N: Man, I'm so whipped right now. I'm up late working on a ton of projects, but I managed to dash off this chapter in the meantime. And oh yes, I forgot to mention this: I haven't fully watched Kyou Kara Maou yet. Yep. Never even finished the bit where (spoiler ahead in this sentence) Conrart 'goes over to the dark side', if I may quote Star Wars. So all the Shinou stuff in this fic is based on my own whatnot. Basically I just wrote whatever the heck I felt like. So sorry if the fic doesn't tie in with the anime.

Anyway, without further ado, I present to you Chapter Two.

* * *

Chapter Two: Patience, Prejudice, and Paradigm Shifts

The next morning, Yuuri was surprised by Wolfram's presence beside him at the table at breakfast. Wolfram's eyes were swollen, as though he'd either been crying or hadn't gotten enough sleep. "Ah… you okay, Wolfram?"

"I'm fine," the prince mumbled, not meeting his eye. Immediately Yuuri began scanning through his mind, trying to look for things that he could have done to make him mad. But he couldn't come up with anything. And besides, if Wolfram was angry, he would have started yelling and ranting, not sat there like a zombie.

"Hello," Murata said, entering with Conrart. He had just had a talk with him, explaining what had gone on last night. Conrart immediately understood, but the talk hadn't gone perfectly—that had been too much to hope for.

"_I understand that my little brother and His Majesty don't always get along, and that Wolfram turns to you. But Great Sage, I would like to remind you of what sort of position Wolfram is in. He's Yuuri's fiancé. What you two did was highly improper."_

"_I know that it was." His odd tone caught Conrart's attention, and the soldier frowned._

"_Do not hurt him, Great Sage."_

_Murata merely chuckled. "Hurt him? I could never hurt Wolfram." _If anything, he's the one who has the power to hurt me.

Wolfram raised his eyes slowly as Murata seated himself on Yuuri's other side, just across him. He had woken up to find himself locked in a tight embrace with the Great Sage, and now he _really _didn't want to think about it. He was too self-conscious to be seeing him at the moment. "Good morning, Great Sage. Good morning, Lord Weller."

Neither of them had said anything about the odd position that they found themselves in. Murata had simply released Wolfram and murmured, "Good morning, Wolfram. That was…" He had hesitated. "I think I'm going to freshen up now."

That, plus his odd dreams, made Wolfram nervous about seeing the Great Sage at the moment.

Wolfram stood up. "I'm full. I think I'm going to training early."

Yuuri rose hastily after him. "Wait, Wolfram?"

Wolfram turned. "Yes?"

"Uh…" He glanced at the others. Günter and Gwendal stopped eating to look at them questioningly.

"I'm fine," Wolfram said again, this time sounding a bit exasperated. "If it's not too important, can we just talk later? I have to meet with Devon early."

Devon again. Yuuri suddenly wondered whether Wolfram had spent the night with the young cadet. Surely not…

Finally the Great Sage decided to break the sudden silence. "Hey Shibuya," Murata said with a weary sigh, pushing back his glasses. "You're aware that we're all wondering what's going on?" The others flinched, realizing that they had been avidly watching the two.

"Ah, it's nothing," Yuuri said, sinking back into his seat. "Nothing important. I was just wondering…" He paused, searching for the right excuse "Whether I could train with you and your soldiers today."

The prince frowned. "I thought that you had lessons with Günter."

Günter nodded vigorously from the other end of the table, sending his hair flying in all directions. "Yes, you do. I have a lovely new lesson all planned out for you today, Your Majesty! You really must not miss it."

Normally Wolfram would have jumped at the opportunity to 'get his wimp into shape', but today he was just reminding him about his lessons? "Oh," Yuuri said, sinking back into his chair. "All right, then."

Murata put down an apple core; evidently he had just finished polishing off the piece of fruit. And apparently that was all the breakfast the he required and wanted, because he started after the prince. "I'll go down with you, Wolfram. I'm done anyway. Coming along in a bit, Lord Weller?" He knew that Conrart's eyes were on him curiously, and had been ever since they had walked in and seen Wolfram acting so strangely. Maybe Lord Weller suspected something more than what he had told him last night. He hoped that he at least trusted him not to do anything to his younger brother.

"Ah, no. Jossak and I have something to do." He dropped his voice. "We're investigating something with the troops."

"Oh no," Wolfram said, halting. "Shinou… but that's impossible. Your troops are one hundred percent loyal."

"I know," Conrart agreed. "That's what makes it so difficult. It only takes one man, Wolfram."

"We can't ignore anything that's even the slightest bit suspicious," agreed Gwendal.

"What is it, anyway?"

Conrart shook his head. "We're not sure yet, but there's something in the air."

"So it's just a hunch, then," Wolfram said, looking relieved. "I'll tell you if I see anything different."

The second he and Murata had vanished, the others turned to look expectantly at Yuuri.

"What?" he protested.

"Thought that you could get out of lessons?" Conrart asked him with a smile. "Since you couldn't ask me, of course you asked Wolfram instead."

Yuuri shifted guiltily. "No," he said, for once being truthful.

"Wolfram, is something wrong?"

* * *

The prince flinched. "Ah, I'm sorry, Great Sage. I just… want to apologize for… whatever it was last night."

One of the maids bit back a giggle at hearing this as she passed by him. Murata took notice and tugged on Wolfram's arm. "Can we talk where we can't be overheard? The castle's full of eyes and ears, and I think that you would prefer last night's incident to remain private."

The Great Sage led him to a secret alcove that had never even noticed before. "I think I was having a nightmare," Wolfram said softly, putting a hand to his temple. "I guess it was really selfish of me, forcing you to handle me when I was such a wreck. I should have just pretended that nothing was wrong with Yuuri."

"You would have if you could have," Murata said matter-of-factly. "You couldn't. Even with all those strong emotions, you tried to rein them in as much as possible. I know that you do that everyday. Perhaps this one was too much."

Wolfram let out a sick moan. "I'm weak. And I'm sorry."

"Don't," Murata said. "It's not your fault, you know."

The two of them sat down on the cold stone floor, diffused light filtering through small slants in the walls. "I'm going to be late for practice," Wolfram murmured, shaking his head.

"They'll understand." Murata offered him a simple smile. "Those cadets of yours worship you. They won't mind if their beloved leader is late by a fifteen minutes or so. And besides, it's still pretty early. You have something like… oh, maybe half an hour. You really rushed through breakfast."

Wolfram let out a sigh. "Thank you." He let out a hollow laugh. "That wimp and I have been fighting on and off for the past few years, haven't we? It's driving me mad, and I'm pretty sure that I'm driving _him _mad."

"Shibuya can be a bit of an idiot," Murata acknowledged. "But don't give up on him just yet, Wolfram. I'm sure that he'll realize…eventually… how much you really do mean to him. Shinou knows that he's clueless now, but he'll see the light. You have to remember that he's been raised that way."

"And _I _have been patient for years. Maybe it's time that I gave it up, Great Sage."

"What would you do?"

Wolfram thought back to his dream. "I would die." _Because in my heart of hearts, I know that that's really what Yuuri wants._

Murata held his breath. The simple way he said it, with quiet conviction… _You do that, and I am going to _kill _Shibuya. _To his horror, he realized that he had actually said that out loud.

"I believe that that's treason, even coming from you," Wolfram murmured. "It's okay. Everyone dies."

"I have to stop, Great Sage. I think that maybe…" He looked miserably down at his feet, hugging his knees to his chest. "Yuuri really doesn't love me. I was presumptuous to think that I could share his bed, when the reality was that he didn't even want me there. Günter was right. I was presumptuous to think that I could wrestle with a whole upbringing's worth of teachings that love between two men is wrong. I am, in the end, a very sorry example of a gentleman, aren't I?"

All the years that they had been engaged to each other, Yuuri had never bothered, even once, to allay any of Wolfram's suspicions and jealousies. He had never bothered to hide his disgust at the very idea of having the emerald-eyed demon for his consort; heck, even the mere mention of their engagement was enough to make the demon king grimace.

Well, given all that plus Yuuri's statement last night, it wasn't really surprising that Wolfram was feeling so depressed.

"Don't die, Wolfram. I'll… I'll find a way to make things work," Murata said.

"What does he need me for, Murata?"

The double black flinched at the terrible tone of voice. "You're his adviser, his friend—his fiancé."

Letting out a short, sarcastic laugh, Wolfram countered, "Gwendal and Conrart advise him much better than I ever will; you serve the purpose as his friend, and in any case, he's friends with pretty much everyone. And as for being his fiancé…"

"Conrart, I'm worried about Wolfram," Yuuri said, on the way to his lessons. Günter had finished eating as quickly as possible so that he could rush off to get all his materials ready for his 'surprise'.

"I wouldn't worry very much about it, Your Majesty. No doubt he's just focused on his troops right now."

Yuuri raised his eyebrows. "Oh, really? So… where was he, last night?"

Conrart shook his head. "I'm not sure, Your Majesty. It would be best if you asked Wolfram himself."

"You said that you looked for him last night."

"I saw him," Conrart confirmed. "However…" He hesitated. The Great Sage had taken him into confidence about the whole business, and it would be dishonorable to betray that trust. On the other hand, it was probably treasonous to hold back a secret from the king. And could he truly lie to Yuuri?

_Yes, I can, _he decided. For Wolfram's sake. "I saw him patrolling. He told me to be at ease. After that, I'm not sure."

"He wasn't acting like himself. I don't know why."

"Perhaps, Your Majesty, he's just distracted." It wasn't only for Wolfram's sake. He decided that it would be better if Yuuri really didn't know.

Yuuri shook his head. "Tell Günter that I'm not going to lessons today."

"Your Majesty…?"

"I'm… I'm sorry, but I really can't go today. I'm too worried."

"As you wish, Your Majesty," Conrart agreed reluctantly. There was nothing much that Günter could do anyway, in the face of Yuuri's direct wishes.

"As for being his fiancé? I think that Yuuri's already made that obvious," whispered Wolfram.

* * *

They were all jealous of him. Every single one—covetous eyes watched Wolfram wrap his arms around Devon, the chosen one. "Like that," the prince ordered him. The other soldiers were so obviously staring resentfully that Murata was surprised that Wolfram didn't notice. "You have to keep up, Devon."

"Yes, Lord von Bielefeld," Devon said automatically. Murata wondered whether that was the only sentence that he could say properly. It was rare that he heard anything else come out of the cadet's mouth.

Wolfram caught his eye with a small smile, but then his gaze shifted to Murata's side and he dropped his gaze immediately.

Murata glanced at Yuuri. "Uh… Shibuya, I know that you've been sitting there for the past fifteen minutes or so, and it's really not my place to question your authority… but are you here just to escape Günter?"

"No," Yuuri said, watching Wolfram just as intently as the cadets.

Günter was actually bothering Gwendal up in the castle, upset this 'His Wonderful Majesty' hadn't seen fit to attend lessons that day. He had better things to do.

"I think something's wrong with Wolfram," Yuuri explained.

Murata shrugged. "It could be just about anything," he said. He looked hard at Yuuri. "Maybe he's just feeling stressed out. You should really cut him some slack, Shibuya. He has all his duties… on top of training that new recruit, Devon… plus he's been patrolling the halls, as of late."

"Conrart told me that he was off patrolling last night. He didn't even tell me," Yuuri said in an injured tone.

"I didn't really think that it mattered to you one way or another. After all, you're used to having Conrart and Gwendal patrol the halls at night. And I thought that you preferred having your own room. Shouldn't you be off giving thanks instead of complaining and asking for explanations?"

Giving thanks? Murata's smile was ironic. Yuuri didn't even know what it was like, to have the blonde prince beside him, to listen to his breathing at night, to hear the soft, dreamy whispers and to inhale the scent that was simply Wolfram—like flame and lemons.

"Well… I guess I just sort of got used to having him around."

Murata's jaw clenched. "Is that so…? Perhaps you've been taking him for granted."

"This isn't about last night again, is it?" Yuuri said, suddenly exasperated. "You aren't going on about that still, are you?"

"Has anything changed?"

The king hesitated. "No, not a bit," the double black demon said forcefully. Murata could see the corners of Wolfram's mouth turning down, his grip on his sword becoming slack. The prince had rather uncommonly good hearing, and he winced when he realized that Wolfram had heard them.

"We're done for the day," Wolfram said abruptly, halting the training. "I'll leave you to practice by yourselves, if you wish to. I… have other things to attend to." He ignored their surprise. Usually he dismissed them after at least another hour or so.

Murata was by him in a flash, followed closely by Yuuri. Still, he managed to whisper a quick word into Wolfram's ear before the king could hear them. "I do not think that what you're doing is very prudent, Wolfram. Shibuya's already noticed that something's wrong."

Wolfram blanched. "Devon, I'm going to give you more private lessons," he added quickly, just as Yuuri was about to say something. "The rest of you carry on, all right?"

"Hey Wolf…" Yuuri said, his voice inadvertently turning into something of a whine.

"Gwendal has some papers for you to sign," Conrart then opined. He had been standing there silently for quite a while now; Jossak had told him to keep an eye on the peculiar love triangle and leave the investigation to him. After all, while a problem in the army would mean a slight disturbance in their military power, having the King, the future Queen and the Great Sage involved in a romantic entanglement could have irreversible consequences on the kingdom.

Papers? Yuuri scowled. "Fine, fine," he grumbled. He glanced back at his fiancé. "Can't it wait until later, Conrart?"

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I believe that Gwendal would take a rather dim view of that."

"Günter's already upset with you as it is," Wolfram added. "I still don't understand why you had to attend to some 'important business' down here, when it's fairly obvious that all you've been doing is sitting there." His tone was sarcastic, even bitter.

Yuuri paled. "Are you mad at me or something?"

"I think that it falls into the category of 'or something', because I'm not mad at you," Wolfram said.

"You're not… upset, or anything?"

Wolfram held up a hand, as though to ward off his concern. "I just have a headache." True enough… "I'll be fine."

"Then why don't you go to Gisela?" Yuuri demanded.

The soldier in Wolfram stiffened at the thought of having to go to the healer. To him, healers were for nasty wounds that pushed one to the edge of death. Gisela was _not _for headaches and heartaches. "I don't need it."

Devon shifted from one foot to another, obviously uncomfortable. The other cadets had also stopped their practice to watch the little tirade between His Majesty and their beloved prince. If they were asked to support one or the other, there was no doubt of who they would choose. Murata hastily intervened.

"Shibuya, I'll attend to Wolfram if there's any trouble. There's no need to disturb Gisela. Why don't you just let him continue his practice with Devon?"

Yuuri's frown deepened. "Fine," he said darkly. Conrart trailing at his heels, he marched back up to the castle.

"That was… weird," whispered one of the cadets. "His Majesty seemed angry with Lord von Bielefeld."

Wolfram's perfect posture seemed to slump as soon as the king was out of sight. "Excuse me, Devon. Could we postpone that training until later tonight?"

"Y… yes, Lord von Bielefeld."

"Wolfram," Murata said quietly, taking the young blonde's arm. "How about we go for a walk?"

"Okay," the demon said meekly.

* * *

It began when he was three years old. He could easily have been mistaken for a girl, with his dark pigtails and dressed in the frilly frocks that his mother loved to choose for him. It was that talk, with his father and mother.

"Honey, he's not a girl!"

Yuuri hid behind the door, wondering what they were talking about. His mother merely folded her arms across her chest stubbornly. "I don't see what's wrong with it."

"It's… it's sick, and perverted. What if he grows up to be… well, you know!" his father sputtered out, his cheeks turning an angry shade of red. "Doesn't it worry you even a little bit? I don't want my son to become a…"

"A what, exactly?"

"A gay!" his father replied hotly. Yuuri had never seen his father so irate. As though his father could hear his thoughts, the man suddenly seemed to deflate. "Look, darling, you know that I love Yuuri very much. But I can't comprehend or even begin to accept the idea that… well…"

"That he might fall in love with men."

"Yes."

That was the beginning of Yuuri's change.

His father bought him closets full of pants and shirts; encouraged him to play baseball and other sports; made sure that he stuck close to him whenever possible so that he would have a 'manly' influence on him; and last but not least, lopped off those ridiculous pigtails and gave him a typical boy's cut.

His mother had grieved over the loss of the chubby, adorable, cross-dressing little child that her Yuuri had been, but neither Yuuri nor his father had complained.

All Yuuri knew, in his little toddler mind, was that he didn't want to see his father so angry, ever again. Didn't want to hear the disappointment and disgust that had tinged his words. And somehow he connected all that with the mere hint of homosexuality.

Today, nothing had changed.

"Your Majesty, are you finished signing those papers?" Conrart asked tentatively, breaking his reverie. "Gwendal and Günter need those by tonight."

"Conrart, I'm so tired of all this," groaned Yuuri.

Conrart sighed. "Perhaps it would be best if you took a break, then. Want to play some baseball?"

"No. I want to go see Wolf."

"I'm sure he's busy," Conrart said cautiously. He wondered at the sudden change in the young king. Just two days ago, he would have likely jumped at the chance to play baseball, and probably protested at the very idea of going to see his fiancé. Today, however, was completely different. He didn't know whether to be glad or appalled. "And you are as well, Your Majesty. You might lose track of time if you went to see Wolfram now."

Wolfram, on the other hand, was in the garden with Murata.

Murata's eyes followed the graceful blonde as he moved through the air, his eyes fixed on a point that the Great Sage could not see. When he practiced with his fire maryoku, it was like he was dancing. _Beautiful. _And it wasn't that he was a pyromaniac or anything, but the flames fascinated him.

"Wonderful," he said as Wolfram finished. The prince seemed much calmer now that he had just exerted a good portion of his powers on practicing his magic. The flush in his cheeks and the sparkle in his eye gave the Great Sage heart.

He wondered, a little bit, whether he loved Wolfram simply because he looked so very, very much like Shinou, although he had to admit that the prince was a lot skinnier and less muscled, not to mention more hot-tempered—and there was the fact that Shinou had violet eyes while Wolfram had green ones. Emeralds and amethysts. But he recognized the similarities between the two; so stubborn and proud, so handsome and determined.

When Murata smiled at him, all that Wolfram could think about was _why doesn't Yuuri ever smile at me like that_? As though Wolfram's mere presence made the Great Sage happy. Wolfram's heart constricted at the very thought of it. Sweet Shinou, what was he thinking now? His mind was still muddled from his excessive emotions…

Murata was puzzled by the brief expression in the prince's eyes when he had looked at him. Shinou, this temptation was unbearable. "Are you all right now?"

"I'm fine." Wolfram let out a harsh bark of laughter. "I've just made a resolution."

"A… a resolution?"

"That's right," he confirmed, pacing as his mind formulated plans. "I'm going to change. I'm… I'm going to control my temper. Be a better Wolfram, that's all. Gwendal and Günter always said that I should grow up. Maybe it's about time that I did."

Murata stared at him. "When you say change… how?"

Wolfram shrugged. "I don't know yet. But I'll try."

The Great Sage was appalled. "Wolf, you're willing to change yourself just for Shibuya's sake?"

"Yes, I am."

Yuuri stopped signing papers again, even though he knew that the sooner he was finished the sooner he would get to see his fiancé. He wanted to get to the bottom of that mystery as soon as possible, but not at the cost of tiring his hand out and feeling his brain go numb. Instead, he glanced out the window.

Right where Murata and Wolfram were talking.

Yuuri squinted. Although he recognized his fiancé's distinct blue uniform, he couldn't quite make out who was with him, because whoever it was, he was in the shadows while the light glinted off Wolfram's golden hair. _Probably that Devon again_, he mused.

"That's insane!" Murata argued. "Yuuri does care for you, in his own fashion—"

"As a USELESS, WHINY BRAT!"

Murata wrapped his arms around him. "Don't do this, Wolf."

"Why NOT?" The prince was close to tears.

"Because…" His breath was so warm against his neck. Murata hazily realized that he very much liked the smell of Wolfram's hair. That he had never felt quite this way about Shinou, no matter how grand they proclaimed their passion was. "Because then you wouldn't be you, Wolfram. And I would hate that." _You are not Shinou. You are only you, Wolfram von Bielefeld._

Yuuri tore his eyes away from the sight of his fiancé locked in someone else's embrace—yes, it had to be that Devon person. With a low cry of disgust, he decided to pretend that he hadn't seen anything.

* * *

There it was again; that odd, strained silence around the dining table. As though this morning's three-ring circus of weirdness hadn't been enough at breakfast, they were now reduced to the barely audible clink of their sporks against the fine china. Yuuri was glowering at Wolfram for some strange reason; Wolfram, after a few initial, bewildered glances at the king's direction, had seemed to come to some sort of conclusion and spent the rest of the night staring at his plate. In the suffocating hush that permeated the room, Gwendal and Conrart exchanged wary looks. Something was up.

Conrart wanted to tell Gwendal that Yuuri had been, for some unfathomable motive, moody and sulky in the middle of signing papers. He wondered if it was because he refused to take the king to see Wolfram. Perhaps, perhaps not; surely he wouldn't have overreacted in this manner, if that were it. Gwendal said nothing, merely pursed his lips and continued eating as though nothing was the matter.

It was a pity that Günter wasn't here, because he could at least have defused the situation with his ridiculous antics; but unfortunately, Anissina had managed to get him to agree to some sort of experiment. Anissina would have been useful too… Conrart sighed. And Greta had fallen asleep already, exhausted from a long day of gardening with his mother.

"I'm finished," Wolfram said in a subdued voice. "I have some things to check before I turn in, so if you'll excuse me…"

"Things to check?" Yuuri suddenly interrupted. "Like what?"

The suspicious tone made the others stare, but Yuuri ignored them. "The usual," Wolfram replied, now looking very, very confused indeed. "Of course the swords and all that, and I thought that I'd talk to my men before turning in." He shrugged. "I occasionally join in on their fun."

_Yeah, I'll bet,_ Yuuri thought. Wolfram blinked at him through long-lashed eyes. "So… can I go now?" he said, as though to say, '_is this interrogation over yet or what?_'

And really, there was no way that he could object, not unless he wanted to bring up what he'd just seen. And if he did that, he would have to admit that it bothered him; and he wasn't prepared to say that, because he didn't know _why_. "Yeah," Yuuri said wearily, turning his attention back to his food.

Inwardly, Wolfram was irritated and hurt. What had he done wrong this time? Yuuri had been giving him looks of flaming death ever since he'd sat down. It only made him more determined to control himself. The Great Sage had been mistaken; he could be Wolfram von Bielefeld even without his famous—or perhaps infamous—temper. And even if he wasn't exactly 'himself', what did it matter?

"Not too much alcohol, Wolfram," was Gwendal's only caution.

Wolfram shrugged. "Don't worry, brother, I'll try to control myself." Much as he hated to admit it, there had been times when he'd just gotten flat-out drunk; times when he lost control of his emotions and decided to drown it in the uncommonly fine wine that they served to his soldiers. He hated the feeling of losing control of himself, but there were moments when all he wanted to do was stop thinking so much.

"Isn't he a bit… you know… _young_ to be having alcohol?" Yuuri said, disapproval evident in his tone.

The blonde prince bit back a retort of, "I'm a few decades away from a hundred already, so mind your own business!" Instead, he shrugged. "I think I'm capable of handling myself. Besides, my men won't let anything bad happen to me." With a bow, he exited.

"We've gone drinking before, Shibuya," Murata said softly. "Shori's birthday last year, remember? And I seem to recall that a certain someone got smashed and decided to dance on the table without his shirt on."

Biting back the smile that threatened to spill over on his face, Conrart hastily coughed as Yuuri's cheeks flushed a brilliant shade of scarlet. "That was different. It was my brother's birthday."

Gwendal put down his spork. "I wouldn't concern myself if I were you, Your Majesty," he said, sounding slightly condescending. "Wolfram's used to wine anyway; he's grown up drinking it, like the rest of us."

"Mother said that the ruby redness of the wine made his eyes look even greener," Conrart said with a laugh. "If you're really worried, Your Majesty, I'll join them. But I don't think that Wolfram would appreciate it—and neither does he need it."

"He would lose a lot of face in front of his soldiers if it appeared that he needed his older brother to babysit him," Murata warned. "And no, you can't go either, Shibuya."

What was the Great Sage anyway, some kind of damned mind reader? "I wasn't planning to," Yuuri lied.

Murata shrugged. "As you will."

The King hesitated. "Murata, maybe you could go?"

"I assure you that Wolfram doesn't need the supervision," Gwendal said.

"But it would be a load off my mind," Yuuri pointed out.

Murata shrugged again, as though he didn't care one way or another. "Sure, why not? I have nothing better to do."

* * *

Wolfram, in fact, was already on his fourth goblet of wine when Murata had gotten to them. "What're you doing here?" he asked, surprised. "I thought that you were still finishing dinner with Yuuri."

"I don't take an hour just eating," Murata said pleasantly. "And besides that, Yuuri asked me to keep an eye on you while you were here."

The prince's cheeks flushed. "Oh, is that so?"

"Don't get mad, Wolf. Aren't you glad that he's showing concern for your wellbeing?"

"I'm not a child," Wolfram said stubbornly.

Murata held up his hands in surrender. "We know. But Yuuri worries about you sometimes." He smiled at the demon's obvious chagrin. "I'll just… stay out of your way, if you like."

"It isn't your fault," Wolfram replied. "You may as well enjoy the little party we have going on here."

The 'party' actually consisted of some laughing, slightly drunken blonde soldiers; a few were playing cards, being cheered by their comrades; a couple of others were arm-wrestling, and Murata resisted the urge to wrinkle his nose at them. Most, however, were simply talking and drinking.

He noticed one of the cadets watching him and Wolfram. "Oh look. They're undressing you with their eyes," he whispered into the prince's ear. He grinned mischievously when he was rewarded by the beautiful blush that spread across Wolfram's cheeks like the glowing of the sunset.

"Crude pervert," Wolfram snapped back tartly, trying with frantic failure to hide the redness of his face. He downed another goblet of wine. "How you got to be the Great Sage, I'll never know."

"Luck, my dear prince. A trick of fate."

On that enigmatic note he sidled away, aware that there were others who wished to talk to Wolfram. The second he left the prince's side, the demon was swamped by his soldiers. Murata took in the sight with amusement. To see all this and still be completely clueless that your men were in love with you? It was adorable, in a way, and so naïve; a bit like the part of Yuuri that Wolfram had come to love.

"Heh. Maybe _I'm _the one who needs a drink," he murmured, feeling uncharacteristically melancholy. He tapped a cadet on the shoulder, and he was instantly given his own cup of wine.

"It's quite an honor to have you here, Great Sage," the boy said respectfully.

"Thank you. The pleasure's really all mine."

The boy's eyebrows went up. "Although, of course, we can't help wondering why His Majesty never seems to come along. He's usually reluctant about accompanying Lord von Bielefeld anywhere." Murata understood the implication: _Obviously, His Majesty doesn't care much about our Lord. _"We're really grateful to you for taking such great care of Lord von Bielefeld."

"Wolfram's lucky to have such loyal men," Murata replied. He noticed one particularly drunk soldier weaving his way over to Wolfram.

"Lord von Bielefeld, I love you!"

Wolfram looked momentarily nonplussed. "Andrew, I think you should lay off the wine now."

The others laughed nervously as Andrew shook his head. "It's not just about the wine, Lord von Bielefeld. We've all loved you the moment we laid eyes on you!"

"Oh dear," Murata sighed, as all of Wolfram's guards suddenly blushed from the roots of their hair down to their toes.

"I'm flattered," Wolfram said steadily. "But as you know, I'm already engaged."

"But His Majesty doesn't love you," Andrew slurred. The other soldiers were on their feet in an instant.

"That's enough, Andrew!" the one Murata had been speaking to was suddenly stalking over to his fellow cadet and grabbing him by the arm. He dragged the other man anyway, looking furious.

"But it's true!" yelled Andrew persistently, still slurring his words, his head drooping dizzily. "Everybody knows… what a waste, for Lord von Bielefeld to keep throwing himself at a stupid man who isn't half as courageous or noble as he is… a stupid man who shouldn't have been king at all… a stupid man who barely even deigns to recognize his engagement to our prince!" At this last statement, the boy dragging him along gave him a karate chop to the neck, and Andrew was unconscious.

Wolfram stood there rigidly. "Lord von Bielefeld, we're so sorry about this… this horrible misunderstanding," one apologized. "Andrew's a fine soldier. He just had a little too much to drink. We'll talk to him about this tomorrow. Please don't be too hard on him."

"Of course not. I won't hold a man responsible for what he believes to be the truth. I know that Andrew would never have said any of that if he had been sober. At ease, cadets." Wolfram grabbed another cup of wine. "There's really no reason for any of you to apologize."

The party proceeded, but there was an air of unease. Wolfram ignored it, continuously refilling his goblet and chatting with his soldiers. He refused to think about the whole Yuuri situation.

But really, his own cadets knew. What was it that Andrew said? _Everybody knows. _He swallowed hard. _Barely even deigns to recognize his engagement to our prince._ It was the truth. His hand shook slightly when he brought another cup to his lips.

"Out of curiosity, how much does Wolfram have to drink before he starts getting drunk?" Murata asked a soldier.

The soldier took a good, long look at Wolfram. "I think that he already is."

Murata's eyes widened. He had been watching the prince without really focusing on his actual reason for being here. Swearing under his breath, he stalked over to Wolfram's side.

"Better stop now, Wolfram," he said.

The prince's eyes had turned more liquid than usual, brighter, and more than a little unfocused—like two emerald pinpricks in the sky. "Okay," he murmured, leaning against Murata with a sigh, spilling a little wine on his shirt as he put his goblet down with a trembling hand. Murata was surprised by his immediate compliance and realized that Wolfram's mind was too soaked in alcohol to let the prince form any coherent argument.

The cadet whom Wolfram had been talking to looked sheepish. "I tried to stop him, but Lord von Bielefeld… and I thought that perhaps it would be best, considering the little scene awhile ago…"

"How much has he had?"

When told the exact amount, Murata shook his head. "Party's over for Wolfram, I'm afraid."

* * *

As Murata half-carried, half-dragged Wolfram back up to the castle, he wondered what he would tell Yuuri. Wolfram would certainly _not _appreciate it if the king found out that he had gotten drunk despite his assurances that he could pace himself. Well, if it hadn't been for Andrew, Wolfram would have been able to… but then, he would have to explain what had happened, and Wolfram wouldn't like that either.

The demon prince smelled strongly of wine. "C'mon, Wolf," he grunted. "You've got to cooperate with me on this. We have to make sure that Shibuya doesn't see you."

"He won't," Wolfram muttered, opening one eye. "He never sees me."

Murata would have liked to make a reply to this, but he was too busy supporting Wolfram at the moment. "I can do it myself," Wolfram said proudly, pulling his hands away. He managed a few wobbly steps, with Murata nearly going crazy with worry when the prince almost stumbled. "Where are we going?"

"Not back to Shibuya, that's for sure," the Great Sage warned. "That is, unless you really want him to see you in this state."

Wolfram paused. "Am I drunk?"

"Uh-huh. Positively smashed."

"Then yes, we can't let Yuuri see me like this," Wolfram said, eyes drooping. "And much as I hate to impose on you…" His tongue felt thick and clumsy. "Could I stay with you again tonight?"

Murata hesitated but weakened almost immediately. "All right."

"Thanks." Wolfram replied.

"For a drunk person, you seem remarkably lucid," Murata remarked.

"The castle's all sparkly and pretty tonight," Wolfram answered with solemn conviction.

"Or not… hey, where are you going, Wolf? It's this way."

Wolfram pulled at his arm. "I need a bath first. I bet that I reek of alcohol. Do you really want to smell like that in the morning?"

He was just grateful that Wolfram was retaining a logical thinking process. "Okay. Ah… why are you dragging me with you, then?"

The prince gave him a look, as though he was very, very stupid. "Because," he explained, in a tone that he might have used to speak to a child, "in the state that I am currently in, I might drown in that tub." He licked his lips slowly. "And I'm not sober enough to care about modesty at the moment."

"Are you sure you're drunk?"

Murata had his answer when he had to grab at the suddenly keeling prince. He grasped the slender arms, felt the fragile bones underneath the smooth skin. "Yes, you are… but you're the most sober drunk I've ever seen."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Wolfram murmured drowsily. It took them fifteen minutes to get to the baths. Wolfram, staggering, fell near the water's edge.

"You can't take a bath with your clothes on, Wolf," Murata pointed out matter-of-factly.

Wolfram looked at him. "I can," he stated, and promptly slid into the bath, still fully clothed. "Told you so."

The coherent Wolfram was rapidly disappearing, in turn being replaced by a childish Wolfram who was endearing to watch, although a tad annoying. But maybe Wolfram was annoying whether sober or inebriated, anyway. He smiled a little at the thought. "Take them off, Wolfram."

"Pervert."

Murata stared at him. "What?"

"Pervert," Wolfram repeated, as he took off his shirt and flung it in Murata's direction. The Great Sage caught it, cocking his head to one side, and had to make another grab at the pants that came flying his way.

Even someone who wasn't interested in Wolfram would have had a hard time not watching the beautiful blonde. As it was, Murata was doing his best to avoid gaping at the boy. He knew that Wolfram wasn't doing it on purpose, but he was just so damned attractive that Murata found it difficult to believe that he wasn't being deliberate as the demon let a soft sigh escape his lips.

It seemed like an eternity later that the prince stepped out of the tub, dripping wet. He had been right; intoxicated, the normally prudish prince didn't give a damn whether he was naked or not.

"Here," Murata said, tossing him a towel, keeping his eyes on the ground.

"Thanks," Wolfram mumbled, drying himself off. "I need clothes."

"Where do you keep them?"

"The room. You know, the one that I share with Yuuri."

Murata sighed. "Well, that's obviously not an option." Wolfram was _definitely _not going in there—at least not like this; barely covered and obviously not thinking properly—and he wasn't about to tiptoe into the king's room either. Yuuri was probably waiting up for Wolfram, or if not, he was likely to wake up the moment he heard the door creak. It would have entailed endless explanations or lies, and he didn't really feel like doing either of the two. "I'll scrounge some clothes up for you from your soldiers, all right? I'm sure that they'd be more than glad to help out."

"Okay." Wolfram slid to a sitting position on the stone ground and leaned his head against the wall. Murata tore his gaze away from the dozing prince. The towel covered almost nothing, and he had to turn away before some stupid part of his mind made him act on impulse. Curse the teenage hormones of his current form! Wolfram was right; he was a pervert.

* * *

A/N: And there you have it so far. I was emo while working on this chapter, so Wolfram was kind of emo too. Heh. So, was it okay? Read and review please! More reviews faster updates! 


	4. FreedomFromAFianceHeDidn'tAskFor

A/N: Hello, everyone! And I'd just like to thank you all for your wonderful reviews. I must say that I was pleased with the feedback. Hope that this chapter comes up to snuff.

As always, I find it my painful duty to inform you all that I will be insanely busy for the next few days. I just came home from training today, actually, in preparation for an upcoming writing competition. Shortly after that, I have an oration contest too. And then I have the newspaper to work on... well, let's just say the list goes on and on.

And it seems this A/N is going on and on too. So without futher ado, I present to you chapter three.

* * *

Chapter Three: He Chose Freedom He Didn't Want from A Fiancé He Didn't Ask For

Did the maids having nothing better to do? Of course not—or if they did have other duties or hobbies, they certainly didn't deem them to be 'better to do'. As it was, they were gossiping yet AGAIN. There was no end to the fresh scandals that flitted through the castle's halls.

Well, they weren't just gossiping.

"Ssh! The Great Sage might hear us," whispered one. The others swallowed the mad giggles that threatened to spill out of them as Murata knocked on Devon's door.

"Great Sage?" the cadet said, perplexed, when he'd opened it. Murata felt a small stab of guilt at waking up the soldier, whom he was sure had a great deal of training to do tomorrow. Still, he was glad to note that the soldier was nowhere as formal as he usually was when he was fully alert. Apparently his grogginess was interfering with his strict adherence to protocol. "To what do I owe this peculiar pleasure? Is something the matter?"

So he could speak beyond his usual 'Yes, Lord von Bielefeld' litany after all. "Ah… yes. Wolfram's in need of some clothing. I think that the two of you are roughly the same weight and height, so I thought that perhaps I could borrow some from you. Of course I'll see that he returns it as soon as your clothes are washed, but I think he'll do that on his own anyway."

"What do you think happened to Lord von Bielefeld's clothes?" one of the more naïve of them wondered. The others snickered.

"What was that?" Murata asked, turning around. The maids fell silently immediately.

"I didn't hear anything," Devon said, still drowsy. "Just wait a moment, please." He disappeared momentarily and returned with a small pile of neatly folded garments. "I think these will fit Lord von Bielefeld."

Murata nodded. "Thank you, Devon."

"Oh no, Great Sage. I'm merely doing my duty." With a salute, he closed the door.

"Hey… hey Wolfram… wake up," Murata said, shaking him after racing back to the baths. It was lucky that the baths were warm, or else the boy would probably have ended up with a cold, coming out soaking wet like that. "I got some."

Wolfram let out a small whimper. "Sleepy," he whined in an infantile voice, curling up into the fetal position. In a rare moment, Murata's face turned bright red. Just for the record: when you're only in a towel, and then you curl up into the fetal position, people can see—well, basically everything.

"Wolf!" he hissed. "Wake up!"

The prince, mercifully enough, responded this time. "Noooooo…" he yawned, although he was already sitting up and blinking. His head lolled like a little doll's. Murata tugged on his arm.

"Come _on_, Wolf. I don't like you like this," he complained.

Wolfram's eyes focused on him, looking slightly hurt. "I know," he murmured. Drunk and Yet Still Reasonable Wolfram had just returned. "_I _don't like me like this. But I can't help myself." He raised his arms slowly. "I can't move properly right now. Could you help me?"

"What?"

The prince repeated his request. "Please. Unless you want me to stay here the whole night in my birthday suit."

"Fine," Murata said, trying not to look at him as he tugged the shirt over Wolfram's head.

"Ow!" Wolfram yelped.

Alarmed, Murata looked at him. "Sorry, sorry," he said.

"Well, if you actually looked at what you were doing instead of staring at the ground, maybe it wouldn't be as painful," the demon huffed. He took hold of the Great Sage's arm. "Why won't you look at me?"

"Because… because it's wrong," Murata said quietly.

"You sound very, very much like someone," Wolfram said as the Great Sage gently tugged the sleeves into place. "A certain someone who I hate very much right now. All I ever hear is that interaction between males is wrong in one way or another."

Murata shook his head. "I don't mean that it's wrong to… I mean, you're really beautiful, Wolfram, and I don't give a damn whether it's considered disgusting or not by society. That's the rest of the world's problem, as far as I'm concerned, when someone as amazing as you is involved." He observed the prince's eyes widening and the cheeks flushing, making him look even prettier than he really was. He wasn't teasing anymore; the words spilled out of him with quiet conviction. This was real. "I'm not Shibuya, though."

"I know. Yuuri looks. A lot." At Murata's suddenly jealous expression, Wolfram held up a hand. "But he doesn't see. It's like I'm never there. You're the opposite. You can't look, but you see everything, don't you?"

"W-what?"

Wolfram shrugged. "I have no idea what the hell I'm talking about. Well, you're the Great Sage. You figure it out. Maybe if you get it, you can tell me about it." When he'd put on the pants, he smiled at Murata. "Although I'm pretty sure that I won't remember anything of this tomorrow morning."

* * *

Conrart was worried. Yuuri had finally fallen asleep after brooding some more—it had taken ages for him to nod off; it seemed that the king had been determined to wait for his fiancé. And yet Wolfram hadn't returned. When told that Wolfram was probably just having a good time, Yuuri had said something to the effect of "I thought he was supposed to be faithful to our engagement!" and then stormed off. 

Yuuri had always had really good timing; he couldn't understand why it didn't extend to the king's love life as well. He was glad that Yuuri seemed to be showing some concern for his little brother, but why did it have to be _this way_? Instead of treating the blonde more kindly, Yuuri seemed to be harsher with him.

But Wolfram still wasn't back.

And he was sure that he had a fair idea of where he would find his younger brother. "Eh, captain? Trouble in paradise again?" Jossak asked when Conrart stood up. It had become Jossak's new catchphrase when pertaining to the conflict among Yuuri, Murata and Wolfram. Still, it was safer than referring to it directly.

"I'm going to check on the Great Sage's room again." The last time he had peeped in, there was no one there; neither Murata nor his younger brother. And it was already hours past midnight.

"I'll come with you," Jossak offered. Together, the two of them cautiously ventured over. Slowly, quietly, Jossak opened the door, making sure that if Murata really wasn't in there, he wouldn't be disturbed.

When they opened it, they kind of wished that they had made some noise.

Murata and Wolfram were entwined, kissing on the bed. Wolfram was making ecstatic little sounds that made Conrart's hair stand on end as the Great Sage's arms wrapped around his slender waist and the double black buried his face in his neck. He stood there for what seemed like forever, watching his younger brother responding eagerly to Murata's touch. Before he quite knew what was happening, Jossak had tugged on his arm and quickly but soundlessly shut the door behind them.

"Captain?" Jossak asked uncertainly. They heard a soft moan coming from inside the room. Conrart winced and felt the strong urge to scrub his mind out. "Maybe… we should get back. At least we know he's fine…" He left the thought unfinished, but they both knew what he was implying: _There's no way that we can tell His Majesty about this. _

If they did, Yuuri was well within his rights to have Wolfram and Murata put to death, prince or not, Great Sage or not—friend or not.

"Ah. Indeed." Conrart allowed the orange-haired man to pull him back towards his quarters.

When they had finally sat down, Jossak's eyes were filled with both mirth and shock. "I didn't know the brat prince had it in him."

"It's treasonous to do something like… well, like _that_ when he's engaged to the king," Conrart said. "The penalties for something of this magnitude…"

"I don't think that His Majesty cares very much. After all, he's been incredibly eager to break off the engagement, don't you think? It's always been Wolfram who's been pushing on about the whole fiancé business. And as it is, I don't think that Wolfram cares very much now either."

Actually, Wolfram did care. Quite a lot. Because at the very moment that he was greatly appreciating the feeling of Wolfram's tongue battling against his, Murata heard the word that spoiled everything.

"No."

No?

And suddenly Wolfram was sitting up, pushing Murata away. His lips were swollen and he was still breathless from kissing so long and so hard, and there was a bruise on them where Murata had lightly bitten them, but the blonde prince ignored all of that as he struggled to explain. "I… I can't. Not…" He groaned. "Yuuri."

Murata licked his lips slowly. He could still taste Wolfram on them. "So." He didn't really mean it as a question. There was nothing more that he could say. "Okay, then. If that's what you want."

The demon flinched. "I'm so sorry." He had been so out of it—so very happy when Murata had pulled him close and when he had initiated that wonderful first kiss. And now all he could think of was the guilt, after all those times he had accused Yuuri of cheating. The king had never done anything even remotely equal to what he'd just done. "It's not you…"

"It's not you, it's me?" offered Murata. He had often laughed at the cliché, but now he didn't feel like laughing. At all.

"I'm so sorry," Wolfram repeated, and suddenly tears came streaking down his face unbidden. Instantly Murata felt the enormous burden of remorse pressing down on him.

It wasn't fair. He shouldn't have forced Wolfram into this—and really, he had been taking advantage of the prince at a time when he knew that the demon was emotionally devastated as well as intoxicated. "No, I'm the one who's sorry, Wolf," he murmured, hugging him. "I'm an idiot."

And Wolfram wondered why Yuuri could never be like this.

"Let's just sleep, okay?" Murata whispered, stroking those golden curls that he had been running his fingers through just moments ago. He could read the fear in the prince's eyes and he rushed to assure him. "I'm not going to try anything."

Yuuri would never have taken the blame. Yuuri would never have embraced him and apologized. Yuuri would never have continued to put his needs and wants first even before the turmoil of emotions that he saw in the Great Sage's eyes. He leaned his head against Murata's chest, letting his tears dampen the fabric. "I wish that I could tell you not to stop. Oh Shinou, I truly wish it."

_Shinou, you twisted… what kind of horrible revenge is this? If you ever loved me, leave Wolfram out of this._ "I understand." Still cradling the weeping demon, he put out the candles and they fell asleep that way.

* * *

He woke up earlier than Wolfram, and crept away before dawn had even begun to break over the Demon Kingdom. "Your Highness?" Many times he heard people uttering those words, but he ignored them. If he wanted to talk to them, he would do it—and they knew it. Met with the sight of the Great Sage's back as he saddled up a horse and galloped out of the castle in the rain, everyone else fell silent, presuming it was some crisis that they as yet had no knowledge of. 

In a way, they were right, weren't they?

"Great Sage!" Ulrike said, frowning as she looked up to see the dripping double black. "This is an unexpected surprise." She folded her hands primly in front of her as she rose to greet him. Recently, Murata had been holing up in the castle—notwithstanding the fact that more soldiers had to double up in the rooms just to give him his own—and hadn't been visiting the temple as much. In fact, it was rare that he put in an appearance at all.

And at this outrageous hour of the morning… "To what do we owe the pleasure, Great Sage?" she asked respectfully.

"I have to go to the other world," he said, not caring that he was making little puddles of water form on the temple's stone floors, not even bothering with the most basic of pleasantries. "Immediately."

Ulrike quailed under his stony eyes. "Great Sage…"

"I don't want to hear it, Ulrike. Get me out of here. Now."

He had never spoken in that tone of voice before—not to her; not even to whatever enemy he might have had. "Great Sage, what has happened?"

The long, shuddering breath he took was more of an answer than his reply to her. "I have no time for questions, Ulrike. Just let me go. There's no need for me to be here right now." His dark eyes bore into hers. "Absolutely no need," he repeated. _There is not only no need for me to be here, there _is _a need for me to _not _be here.__For the good of the kingdom._

"As you wish, Great Sage," she said simply. If he wasn't going to tell her, then she would just have to let him do as he wished. He was the Great Sage, after all. He knew what he was doing.

Thunder crashed outside. Wolfram slept soundly through the night, although he felt cold—as though he was missing another body's warmth around him. He shivered and wrapped himself unconsciously in the tangle of the blankets.

Ulrike let out a low cry of dismay and surprise.

"What's wrong?" Murata demanded, opening his eyes. He was standing in the puddles of water that he had tracked on the ground; Ulrike had stated that they were more than sufficient to take him to the other world. Why was he still here, now that he thought about it?

"I don't know," Ulrike said, for once losing her composure. "I don't understand it at all, Great Sage. All I can suppose is that it's Shinou's wish for you to stay here in the Demon Kingdom."

Murata's features hardened. Of course… Shinou. He should have known that the Original King would not have let him go so easily. "Damn you," he whispered. _I gave a multitude of lives for you, with you. Will you not let me suffer this one alone before I destroy this kingdom with your doppelganger?_

"Great Sage?" Ulrike ventured timidly.

"It isn't your fault, Ulrike," he said. Inwardly he raged at the Original King. He loved the bastard, that much he knew, but at the same time he hated the games that he played, the way he manipulated people. Power. That was all Shinou had ever been interested in, since birth. He had sacrificed their bond for the sake of that power—sacrificed lives, hearts.

He smiled wryly. And now that Shinou had all that power, what did he do with it? Once you've attained the one goal you staked your life on, what was left for you to do? Toy with lives, treat the world as though it was your plaything? No, he was better of being reincarnated time and time again than do that.

"I have lived so many lifetimes, but so far I have lived them all without regrets," he whispered. "Can you say the same for yourself?" The cold wind stirred at his hair, whipping it across his face as he bowed his head.

* * *

Yuuri was awake. And Yuuri was in a very bad mood. 

That, Wolfram had definitely _not _been counting on when he'd tiptoed back into their room. He had thought that maybe the king wouldn't notice his absence the previous night—that perhaps he could say that he had just gotten in late but had actually been there all along, or some other plausible excuse—but instead he was faced with a fully conscious and pissed-off double black.

"Yuuri," he said tentatively, fighting the splitting migraine that the hangover was bringing on.

"What happened to your clothes?"

Wolfram flinched at his tone. "I borrowed this from one of the cadets last night," he said, faltering at the harshness that met his words. "I spilled something on my attire. It was careless of me."

"Whose are those?"

The prince frowned. Where on earth was this conversation going? Normally Yuuri was so warm and caring and happy-go-lucky. Instead, he was getting bawled out for God knew what? "They're Devon's. I don't see why that's such a big deal." Murata told him as much when he'd woken up. But strangely, he couldn't remember much of last night's events… he presumed that after getting thoroughly smashed, he'd probably passed out and the Great Sage had seen fit to drag him to his room instead of letting him face Yuuri's wrath and 'I-told-you-so' attitude.

"I just came to get my clothes."

"Then get them and then just get the hell out of here." The words were out before Yuuri realized what he was saying, and he saw the overwhelming hurt in the prince's eyes.

_He wants me to leave? Fine, I will. If he wanted me to die, he would just have to say it, and I would do it. _

_I'm leaving. _

Wolfram turned his back to Yuuri as he dressed. The king's eyes lingered on the red swelling on the prince's neck and the bruising on his lips, but he made no comment. Then, to Yuuri's surprise, Wolfram collected the rest of the garments that he had in the cabinet that they shared and began putting them into neat piles.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm taking them out of here," Wolfram explained. There was a stretch of silence.

"Why?"

"Because… it's really inconvenient, to keep on doing this," Wolfram rattled out. "For both of us."

"To keep on doing what?"

The demon boy looked back at the human. "I mean the share-a-room thing. You want your privacy; and I guess I want my own, a little bit." He would miss sleeping with Yuuri's warmth beside him. But then again, when he thought of all the times that the king complained about him kicking him off the bed, or hogging the sheets, and a million and one other sleeping idiosyncrasies that he reportedly had, he realized that perhaps it would be better.

That, and the weird dream that he had had last night. About the Great Sage. Which had resulted in some embarrassing consequences when he woke up all sticky and disgusting beside the said double black. He _really _didn't want Yuuri knowing about _that._ He was a soldier, for Shinou's sake! He wasn't supposed to be going through all those hormonal things like wet dreams.

Privacy? Wolfram hadn't wanted privacy before. All he'd wanted was to constantly stick by his side, which had irked him to no end. "Where are you going to stay?"

Wolfram bit his lip, tugging meditatively at it. "I haven't quite figured that part out yet. My soldiers offered to let me stay with them ages and ages ago, and I'm sure that that offer still stands today—"

"_No_!" Yuuri replied sharply, recalling Murata's 'they're-undressing-him-with-their-eyes' comment. There was no way that he could let his fiancé stay in such a… _promiscuous _environment, surrounded by that foul blonde squad of his. "Absolutely not."

"Why?" Wolfram ground out.

"It just… it isn't safe," Yuuri blurted out.

"Safe? I can think of nothing safer than sleeping with the knowledge that half a dozen of my cadets, fully trained and ready for battle at any time, are right there with me in the same room."

"It just… it's just not okay, Wolf."

"But… Your Majesty!"

_Your Majesty?_ "That's an order," he added suddenly, not knowing what possessed him to say such a thing. He regretted it the moment he saw the shock and contempt in the other boy's face. It seemed that he was ordering people around a lot lately… First Murata, now Wolf?

The blonde's eyes narrowed. "As you wish, _sire,_" he said, emphasizing the title. Still, he threw together his pile of clothes and scooped them up into his arms.

"Then where are you taking those?"

Wolfram ground out the words in his impatience. "I'm not sure yet, sire. But I'm going to find another place."

"What?"

The fire user nodded stiffly, and added a bow for good measure. It was supposed to be a sign of respect, but Yuuri felt more like the demon had just hit him. "Seeing as you have denied me the company of my men, I will locate another place where I can stay."

Yuuri darted forward and grabbed his wrist roughly, sending his clothes flying to the ground. "Look at me, Wolfram! What's wrong with you?"

The blonde prince stared and tried to yank his hand away. Yuuri's grip was so fierce that it actually hurt. "What do you mean what's wrong with me?" His eyes were starting to water from the pressure that Yuuri was applying. "Stop it! You're hurting me!"

Yuuri abruptly let go. "Tell me what happened."

"_Nothing_," Wolfram spat back at him, gingerly rubbing the spot where Yuuri had held him. "What's gotten into you anyway? Since when do you act like this?"

"Since you decided to just… just run away from all this," Yuuri said, flinging a hand out in a gesture that seemed to encompass everything their relationship meant: friendship, anger, jealousy—a mistake.

"Is that so wrong?" Wolfram asked, getting to his knees to pick up his fallen garments. "I never heard you say that you didn't want me to run." He raised steely green eyes to the king. "You were always the one running, Your Majesty."

Yuuri hesitated. There was nothing he could say to that, was there?

"I thought so," Wolfram said softly, grabbing his clothes and running out of the room.

* * *

And what better place to stay than in the room where you've been sleeping for the past couple of days? 

Wolfram hadn't had a clue at first where he would go. Instead, he skipped breakfast and temporarily dumped all of his stuff at the barracks, ensuring their safekeeping to his second-in-command. Then he had headed back to the castle, his signature scowl darkening his features, a sort of shield to ward away the rest of the palace's inhabitants.

Murata, however, was not deterred. "Wolf!" he called out to the prince. The people nearby winced, waiting for the eruption of Mount St. Wolfram to begin.

"WHAT?!"

The Great Sage ignored the edge in the demon's tone. "I heard from Shibuya. Do you mean it?"

"Yes, of course I do," he snapped back. "However, now that His Majesty refuses to let me stay with my soldiers, I'm going to have to go room-hunting."

"Wolfram…"

"If you're here to intercede on his behalf, you've got another thing coming. Namely a flame up a certain double black's ass." Wolfram glared threateningly at him—his current headache combined with the little 'situation' with His Majesty made him even scarier than he usually was. "I'm really not in the mood for this right now, Great Sage."

"He didn't want you to go," Murata said softly. He pulled the prince towards the alcove, which he was now thinking of as their hiding spot. He took Wolfram's hand in his and frowned at the slight bruising on the pale skin. His eyes narrowed. For Shibuya to have gone that far… and here he was, defending him. "He just didn't know how to say it. But he doesn't honestly want you to go away."

"Yes, he does! He's wanted it for so long, so badly, always flinging it into my face without even thinking whether I deserved to be treated that way! And now that I finally want to get away too, why does he have to keep interfering?"

Murata waited a while to let Wolfram calm down, taking the opportunity to heal his injury with his maryoku. "Shibuya already told you that you couldn't stay with your soldiers. Do you plan on staying with Conrart or Gwendal?"

"No, of course not. They're likely to insist that I simply return to that wimp and remind me that I'm supposed to just suck in whatever His Majesty sends me way, whether its good or bad. Conrart especially. He always defends him."

"Just go back to him, Wolf. I'm pretty sure that he'll apologize."

"No," the prince said stubbornly. "As far as I'm concerned, he can stick his apology up his—"

"_Ahem._" Murata interrupted him. "If that's the case then, where will you go, my dear prince?"

"I don't know."

"You _really _don't know how to plan ahead, do you?"

He shrugged. "I'm a fire user, remember? Impulsive, doesn't give a damn about the consequences, you know the rest."

Murata hesitated. What Wolfram didn't know was that Yuuri had asked him to let Wolfram stay with him for a while, at least until the blonde went groveling back to his king. He knew that given last night's little… _incident_… he could control himself just fine. The question was, if Wolfram didn't say no, would he have gone ahead?

But Wolfram had said no. And even like this, if he so much as tried to kiss those lips, he knew that Wolfram would push him away before he went in too far, too deep.

"You can bunk in with me, then," he said.

The demon's head shot up. "You would do that?"

"You need only ask for something, and I'd do it." And he meant it; he would have done anything for him. Even if Yuuri hadn't asked him to, he thought that the end result would probably have been the same. "And I don't mind at all. I think that I've kind of gotten used to having you around."

"You don't mind?"

"Why would I?" He wiggled his eyebrows. "I can't think of anything better than having a beautiful, passionate prince sleeping beside me."

"_Pervert!"_ Wolfram burst out laughing, his emerald eyes sparkling. Still, he felt a certain disquiet when he thought of the visions that had invaded his slumber last night. He rubbed unconsciously at the marks on his neck and wondered where they had come from. Surely it wasn't from Murata… he would have remembered if something happened, right? He wasn't _that _drunk. Hopefully. "Thank you, Your Highness. Even if you are a pervert, I know that you have good intentions at heart."

"By the way, there's a council going on," Murata added. "They told me to look for you."

"WHAT?!"

"What do you mean, 'what'?"

"They sent for me and you only tell me _now_? Why in the name of Shinou did you do that?"

"Because you look so cute when you're mad."

Wolfram's cheeks flushed. "Shut up, Great Sage."

* * *

"We have word of a traitor in the military," Jossak said, for once his sparkling eyes serious. "And this traitor is supposedly connected to the recent raids near the castle. A village was overrun just last week." 

Yuuri took a deep breath. "And what happened?"

Jossak looked away. "They butchered a lot of the villagers. Now, we're not sure what their motives are at the moment, but we believe that they're primarily humans doing the usual—going against the demons, getting some money along the way, and of course having what they deem to be 'fun'."

Wolfram and Murata entered. Wolfram was still a guilty, irritated shade of pink, while Murata was smirking at him. Conrart and Jossak exchanged significant looks but made no comment.

"If they're humans, why would you think that there's a traitor? We're all demons here," Yuuri put in. "Well… er… not counting me or Greta or Conrart, naturally. Are we being suspected?"

Wolfram let out an exasperated, choking laugh. "Sure. Because we really think that the demon king is aligning himself with the humans, killing off his own men while spouting peace and love for all. You're too innocent for your own good, so don't even think that you're anywhere near worthy a scheme that masterful."

"Right," Jossak said, bringing the topic back. "Despite that, we still suspect that they have a collaborator here. They have good knowledge of how many there are of us, our supplies, and where we're worst defended. We captured one of their men and interrogated him, but he… kind of died."

"Jossak… how did he 'kind of' die?"

The redhead shrugged, keeping a neutral expression on his face. "I'm sure that I wouldn't know, Your Majesty."

"In any case, before he… _expired,_" he continued with a wry smile, "we managed to extract some information from him. He _did _say that they were planning to plunder a village near here sometime soon. The problem is, we're not sure where. That, and the fact that sometime soon could be anywhere from this afternoon to a month away."

Wolfram leaned forward. "It could be a trap. Maybe they let him be captured to give us false information. It would sow dissension among us to suspect someone feeding them our secrets, after all."

"It's better safe than sorry," Yuuri contradicted. "What if it's true?"

"Then we should still protect the castle. It would be a likely target if we all went rushing off to defend the villages. And anyway, it's like a shot in the dark. We aren't sure where they're going to strike."

"But we can't just let those people die! It's just so typical of you to be so hardhearted and cruel—you don't think of anyone but yourself."

Wolfram shrank back at his words. "It had nothing to do with that," he said fiercely, trying to cover up the hurt in his eyes—it wasn't hard; the pain was almost entirely eclipsed by the anger burning in them. "Maybe it's because I'm actually _strategizing _instead of just blindly doing whatever I think is heroic. After all, we can't make unnecessary risks just because _certain people _have hero complexes!"

Uh-oh. It looked like Wolfram actually hit a nerve with that one. "What did you say?" he hissed, getting to his feet.

Gwendal intervened. "Much as I agree with you, Wolfram, the king's wishes must be respected. I think that the best course of action would be to send some of the soldiers away, but to keep a small force here at the castle as well. Besides, it's preposterous—will a small band of marauding humans really try to take on the castle? It's never happened before, and I doubt that it ever will. No, more likely they'll try for one of the villages. They make easier prey."

Murata nodded. "Right. I suggest that you, Conrart and Günter take most of the men with you to different towns around the castle. On the other hand, Wolfram and his private squad can stay here to protect the king. If, by the end of the month, there are no attacks, then you three will return. During that time, you can reinforce defenses and scout the parameters. I think that the castle can spare you guys for a month."

Wolfram's eyes widened. "What? How come I'm being left behind?"

"Firstly, because you yourself said that they're likely to aim at the castle. If your hunch is right, then you would be a great asset here." _And besides, I'm sure that your brothers want to keep you safe, _he thought. _And so do I. _"And because you're the king's fiancé. We can't risk you."

"He's right, Wolfram," Gwendal agreed automatically. "Besides, who better to take care of the king but his own betrothed?"

"Conrart," Wolfram suggested succinctly.

"No, he's too likely to let His Majesty go and do something stu—noble," Jossak corrected a little too late. "Besides, the captain would be valuable in talking to the villagers. He's a people person."

And Gwendal had the authority and regal bearing that would intimidate anyone into giving him information and listening to his orders. Günter had a reputation that made people follow him automatically. Wolfram, on the other hand, wasn't even considered a full adult yet; and far from being a 'people person', as Jossak had put it, he would be more likely to slash his way through an argument.

"Günter can take care of the castle," Wolfram said in dismay, but he was beginning to realize that his protests would be futile. And that he was completely useless.

"Not this time. But don't worry, Wolfram, we're not doing this to deliberately exclude you." Murata patted his hand reassuringly. Conrart unknowingly flinched at the gentle gesture. "Besides, Shibuya and I will both be here, so it's not all that bad."

"Yeah, I'll bet," Jossak murmured. He grinned impishly at the two of them. Personally, he didn't really see what all the fuss was about with Conrart; after all, didn't Wolfram deserve to be happy? And if Yuuri couldn't make him happy, at least Murata could. The redheaded soldier was pleased.

"Then that's settled," Yuuri agreed. "I think that it's only right." Wolfram didn't argue. And Murata didn't take his hand away. But it didn't matter; everyone was too focused on the king to look at the Great Sage's hand atop the king's fiancé's, anyway. Although Wolfram did kind of wonder why _he _didn't make the Great Sage stop.

* * *

"Thanks for the loan, Devon," Wolfram said, handing the cadet back the now neatly laundered clothes. Hmm. He really had never noticed how small the rooms at the barracks were. Actually, now that he thought about it, he was glad that he didn't have to stay with his men. There wasn't enough space for him. "I really appreciate it. Could you… er… not mention this to anyone else?" A faint blush tinted his cheeks. "Of course His Majesty and the Great Sage now, but that's about the extent of it. I'd rather not let it get out that I made a drunken fool out of myself." 

The cadet smiled as he put them away. "It's really nothing, sir. None of the men respect you any less because of what happened. If anything, we're ashamed of ourselves. Andrew didn't really mean to say all those things, but we should have kept a better eye on him. We all knew that he couldn't hold his liquor well."

Wolfram nodded. "I'm glad that you see it that way. It's better that we all watch out for one another." He grinned. "After all, you're my comrades, in a sense."

Devon smiled lightly. "I think that I speak for your whole squadron when I say that it's an honor to be considered so, sir. Really, we're just your private guards. We're nothing special."

"That's stupid," said Wolfram, who normally would have agreed. But recently he had gotten off his proverbial high-horse and stopped being such a snob about the whole fraternizing-with-the-common-military thing. "I hand-picked all of you for this task. I've been there during your training. I even got drunk in front of you—although I'd really rather not think about that," he added hastily. "Of course you guys aren't 'nothing'—that would be an insult to my training regimen."

"But of course, sir," he said with a laugh. "No way could we say that your… what did His Majesty call it? Oh yes, the 'von Bielefeld training camp of doom', well, I suppose that you're right in that sense, Lord von Bielefeld." His eyes were alight with gratitude and genuine admiration. "I'm just thankful to be here, sir. If it wasn't for you…"

Wolfram's normally hard emerald eyes had softened to liquid green. "Don't mention it, Devon," he said softly. "I regret not acting faster than I did."

"I understand why you didn't, sir. Security reasons. Usually you only take the sons of the soldiers who've been in the army for generations. I'm surprised that you even made an exception in the first place."

"Gwendal wouldn't have done it, and Lord Weller's army is only for the seasoned soldiers. If you were going to end up with someone, it had to be in my group. But I'm glad that I decided to let you join."

"Well, it means the world to me, sir."

Wolfram nodded. "I'm really happy that you're fitting in well here, Devon. I know that it must have been hard at the borders." He frowned, remembering when the blonde had first turned up in the woods, evidently having lived there by himself for years, unknown to anyone else. He had lost his parents' ages ago, and he had basically no friends. He remembered trying to brush the matter away—it was completely against their standard operating procedure to take him in; surely they could just deliver him into one of the nearby villages, or something like that—but his conscience wouldn't let him.

Besides, Conrart had been so proud… and Murata had been standing right next to him when he made that decision ages ago. Funny… he realized with a little shock down his spine that Murata had been constantly by his side these past few… months? Maybe even years.

He gave himself a little prod to get his mind back on track. "Well, they're going to be leaving in a while. Gwendal and the others, I mean." He smiled lightly. "Do you think that we'll be able to handle the task of defending the castle by ourselves? I'm sorry that I couldn't accompany them, but at least none of you have to risk your lives—at least, Shinou willing, we won't have to right now."

Devon gulped. "Yes, sir. That's… true. But still, I wouldn't think that we were safe just yet. I think that we'll have a lot more to do than we think. I mean, it's a really important job to guard the castle, isn't it?"

Wolfram shrugged. "That's true. But I still wish that I could have gone with them," he said distantly. "I want to feel like I'm actually doing something…" He realized with a snap who he was talking to. "But, uh, of course what we're doing is good too." He grinned. "I tried saying that we need more defense at the castle, so isn't it silly for me to think that we would get more action if we were sent out?"

"No, sir. Forgive my impertinence, but I think that you just don't like feeling left out. No offense, sir."

"None taken, cadet. Maybe you're right. At the very least, you spoke your mind," he acknowledged. "And that doesn't merit punishment."

"But if you don't mind my asking, sir, what makes you think that it's likely that someone will launch an attack here?"

"Just a feeling I get."

Devon shrugged. "Well, sir, maybe you're right too, but then again, the likelihood of that isn't very big, is it?"

"No." Wolfram laughed. "Okay, I know when I'm licked. At least we'll get a few days vacation—but more of the von Bielefeld training camp of doom. Look forward to it."

"Yes sir," Devon said, instantly getting to his feet and springing into a salute.

"At ease, cadet," Wolfram said, rolling his eyes.

Devon smirked. "Permission to speak freely sir?"

"Granted."

"Thank you for everything, sir." The cadet looked solemn. "I hope…" He trailed off. "You've been nothing but wonderful to me, sir. So I'm sorry for all my shortcomings. I'm grateful for all that you've done. In the future…"

"I'm sure that we're going to have a bright future with you in the ranks, Devon. Don't worry about what you're doing wrong. You're a fine cadet—and if you ever need someone to talk to, well, you can consider us your family. You do, don't you?" Wolfram asked. "We hope that you do."

Devon averted his eyes with a nod. "Thank you, sir."

* * *

A couple of days. It had seemed forever since he had let it go. Yuuri smiled at the exhilarating feeling that it brought on. "Conrart…" 

"Fast ball, I know," Conrart said as Yuuri tossed the ball to him. Later that afternoon Conrart would be setting off for one of the nearby villages, so he was taking advantage of the time that they had together to play.

"Nice catch."

"You seem distracted, Your Majesty."

"Yuuri," he corrected him. In the past few days, he had forgotten to tell him not to call him by his royal title. In fact, a lot of people had been calling him that lately. Ever since the whole conflict with Devon and Wolfram had started. He gritted his teeth, imagining his fiancé in the arms of that yellow-headed soldier, a complete idiot who was nowhere near good enough for him.

"If anything's bothering you, Yuuri, you should confide in someone."

"I'm just a little confused now, that's all." He sighed. At the meeting a while ago he had come to terms with the fact that he had cared so much for the blonde that he prioritized the prince's safety over the potential lives that Wolfram might have saved, had he been sent to one of the villages.

And he was jealous—insanely so—of Devon and Wolfram. In fact, just of anyone who touched Wolfram. He had seen Murata's guiltless gesture to comfort his fiancé just a moment ago, and he had nearly knocked the Great Sage's hand off of Wolfram's. That proved to him just how brainless and unreasonable he was being; after all, there was no way that Murata was involved with Wolfram, and yet he still felt that suffocating resentment welling up in his chest.

But none of that meant that he _loved _the prince. As to that, he still felt unsure. The mere thought of even _kissing _Wolfram revolted him, let alone doing anything beyond that. He was a boy, for Shinou's sake! He couldn't even tell Wolfram with complete honesty that he wanted him to stay with him—because he wasn't sure whether that was the truth or not.

He realized that the whole free love thing was a lot harder than it sounded.

"Is it about your fight this morning with Wolfram?"

"A little bit, I guess. He was going to go off and… and sleep with his men." Okay, not exactly the best choice of words.

"You mean with his soldiers?" Conrart asked, puzzled by the vehemence of Yuuri's tone.

"Yeah!"

Conrart paused. "Your Majesty, what would be wrong with that?"

"Well…" the king blushed. "It's just, you know, it's…" He sighed. "I can't really explain it, Conrart. It's just that Wolf spends so much time with them, and I get the feeling that they're all crazy about him."

The soldier laughed. "Actually, any single one of them would jump him, given the chance to do so; nearly everyone in the castle knows that. But they would never do that to Wolfram without his consent—they may love him, yes, but their devotion is something pure. And Wolfram would never give any of them his permission, so there's really no reason for you to worry."

"But I am. He's my friend, after all."

Conrart tossed the ball back to him. "Your Majesty, why don't you tell Wolfram about your concerns? I'm sure that he would appreciate them."

The double black shook his head. "I think he would just take it the wrong way. It would be like… like I doubted him, or something like that. Or he might think that I'm in love with him." He let out a pained sigh. "And that's really not what I want him to think."

"Anyway," the king continued, "it's not like I'm worried or anything now. I asked Murata to let Wolf stay with him for now, and he said that if Wolfram agreed, he didn't have a problem with it."

_Oops._

"Sorry, I was a bit sidetracked," Conrart murmured as he picked the ball up from the ground where it had fallen. A soldier approached them.

"Greetings, Your Majesty." He saluted the king. "Captain Weller, we have to set off."

"In a moment, soldier. Tell Gwendal I'll be joining you shortly." He waited until the man was out of earshot. "Yuuri, please treat my little brother well while we're away."

Yuuri raised his eyebrows. "Of course."

"He loves you very much. Even if you… don't love him," he said, although he felt guilt gnawing at his heart as he said the traitorous words, "care for him. Wolfram needs that right now."

The king stared hard at him. "Conrart, is there something that you know? Which I might _need _to know?"

It was his duty to tell him of his fiancé's infidelity. It was his duty to tell the king the truth. But he would not, could not hand over his little brother that way. He preferred treason to being a traitor to his own blood. The alternately pleading and demanding emotions in the double black's eyes almost convinced him to admit everything that he had seen, but he knew better than that. "I'm sorry, Yuuri, I really have nothing to tell you."

"Is that it, then?" Yuuri asked. "I won't see you, Günter or Gwendal for what might be a whole month."

"Please pray that we are away for that period of time, Your Majesty, because it would mean that the attack won't take place for a month." Conrart saluted him. "Please give my regards to Wolfram. I have no time to say goodbye to him. And to Greta as well."

"Of course." But he had read the secret conflict in Conrart's eyes, and he knew that the soldier knew more than he was letting on.

And Yuuri was determined to find out what it was.

* * *

A/N: Well, how was it? I'd love to hear your feedback. Gosh, I'll be so insanely busy soon, but if you guys review a lot, I promise to update ASAP. 

By the way, I've been thinking about writing a Conrart x Wolfram story. Sick? Maybe. But I love doing pairings that most people don't exploit. Tell me what you think! Until then, more reviews faster updates. Thank you!


	5. Cracks in the Glass

A/N: Oh my God, thank you all so much for reviewing! Broken Trinity has hit 70 reviews. I salute all you wonderful reviewers out there for your overwhelmingly positive response. It really made me happy!

Anyway, I apologize for the delayed update. As reviewers of the last chapter already know, my Internet was down for AGES--it crashed right after I posted the last chapter. How cruel is that?

This chapter is dedicated to starlight2005--who sustained me through the long, Internet-less week or two--and to O.C., who put up with my chattering right after we were reunited via the 'net. Also to the crappy phone company who decided to cut me off and then take ages to rectify their mistake (a pox on your heads!).

This is going on a bit too long, so without further ado, I present to you Chapter Four.

* * *

Chapter Four: The Cracks In the Glass

"Godspeed," Wolfram said, saluting Gwendal and his men, Murata standing like a silent guardian by his side, nodding at the soldiers in acknowledgment. He finished his well-wishes with a traditional military blessing. "May you bring honor to the Great Demon Kingdom."

Gwendal nodded. "Keep safe, Wolfram," he said, before spurring his horse into a gallop, his green-clad soldiers following closely after him.

He noticed that Conrart and Jossak's troops were lingering, and he frowned. "Something wrong, Weller?" he asked.

Conrart looked down. "A quick word with you before I go, little brother? In private."

Wolfram saw that Jossak's eyes were wide with amusement and slight surprise, and he scowled at the redhead. He wasn't—and had never been—fond of Jossak. "All right," he agreed briskly. "I trust it isn't anything _too _dire?"

His half-brother shook his head as they distanced themselves from the others. "No, nothing like that. I'd just like to… express some concern… over the incident that took place between you and His Majesty earlier today."

Wolfram let out an exasperated sigh. "What more is there to it?"

"Please… whatever it is, find some way to patch it up," Conrart said anxiously. "I know that it's difficult for you, Wolfram, but I'm afraid that you might do something rash—"

"Rash?" Wolfram asked, eyebrows raised. "_He's _the one—"

"I know," Conrart said quickly. There wasn't much time for them to talk; already Jossak was signaling for him to wrap up. "I know that Yuuri's mostly to blame. But please, be patient with him."

Wolfram looked hurt. "Well, I…"

"Look, little brother," Conrart said, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. He felt Wolfram flinch under his touch and felt a pang of sorrow and regret. "If it came to your heart's happiness, I would gladly lie and die for your sake." _Even if you were carrying on a guilty dalliance with His Majesty's best friend.__And it just so happens that you are…_ "But please, Wolfram. I know how much you love Yuuri."

"That wimp?" Wolfram asked hotly.

"Yes," he said with an indulgent smile. "_That _wimp. I know that you love him. So please, please give him…"

"A chance?" Wolfram asked, anticipating the request with a slightly bitter laugh. "I have, over and over again. Tell me how much is enough, Lord Weller." _Is it enough when you hurt so much you think you will die? Is it enough when you're willing to lay down our life for his sake? _

_How much is enough? Will I grow old and tired of waiting?_

_Or am I waiting for something that'll never come?_

Conrart shut his eyes against the injured tone. "If someone offered to love you wholly, would you accept him? Even if he wasn't Yuuri?"

Wolfram rolled his eyes. "How could I fall in love with someone I don't know well?"

_But what if it was someone standing by your side the whole time?_ Conrart had no voice to give the question. He dropped his gaze. All he could do was pray that his brother was happy, however he might choose to seek out that happiness. "Goodbye, little brother," he said, hugging him abruptly, causing the demon's eyes to widen in green-eyed shock. "Watch yourself until I return. And please, find some way to make up with His Majesty."

Wolfram's heart softened despite himself. "I'll do it by tonight," the prince said grudgingly. "Godspeed… Conrart," he said, swallowing hard as he finally pried the hated name out of his throat. He barely glanced at the red-haired half-blood before adding a quick "Jossak" with an imperious nod that made Murata smile at his snobbery and his childishness.

He saw a moment of intense gratification suffuse his brother's face before the brown-haired soldier raised his hand in a parting wave and disappeared.

* * *

"Tell me a story," Greta implored.

Wolfram sighed from his place beside her. She was growing up into a lovely girl; and he thought that she was rather too old for stories now that she was almost ten. "Greta, it's late. You should go to sleep." Actually, he was the one who was exhausted. He had been sulking at being left behind and had elected to skip training in favor of spending some quality time with his adopted daughter.

What he _hadn't_ known was that Greta had turned out to be a regular daredevil. She had worn him ragged with her endless amusements and diversions. Then again, he was kind of thankful that he wasn't raising a boring little princess whose only pastimes were playing with dolls and curling her hair.

"It's not _that _late," she huffed. "Or are you getting too old and creaky to tell me a good story?"

He laughed, ruffling her hair affectionately. "What kind of a story?"

"Something new."

He racked his head for some yarn to tell her. "Let's see…"

"Murata!" she suddenly squealed, interrupting him.

"Hello, Greta," the double black greeted her. Wolfram turned, his eyes widening ever so slightly. But he wasn't surprised. He had felt the Great Sage's eyes on him the whole day, no matter what he had been doing. "Hello, Wolfram."

"Great Sage," he returned calmly.

"Wolfram's too old and lazy to tell me a story!" Greta confided in Murata, pouting.

Murata laughed. "I think that considering my past life, I'm older than he is, but would a story from me suffice?"

"Yes, please," Greta said, bouncing on her bed. Wolfram clicked his tongue disapprovingly. She was too old to act like that, really.

"Lighten up, Wolf. I think it's adorable," Murata whispered, as though reading his mind. The fire-user went red but held his tongue.

"Okay, let me see." Murata paused to tuck Greta into bed. "There was once an incredibly gorgeous prince—the most beautiful in the land."

"If it's a prince, how can he be beautiful?" Greta asked, sticking her tongue out at him as she fought his efforts to place the sheets over her. "Don't you mean a _handsome _prince, Murata?"

Still, he resisted and managed to get her to settle down under the covers. "Well, look at Wolfram here. He's a prince. Don't you think that he's absolutely beautiful? Look at those stunning green eyes."

Wolfram blushed scarlet as both Greta and the Great Sage laughed at his expense. "Leave me out of this."

"Yeah then, he was as beautiful as Wolfram over here," Murata confirmed, disregarding his request. His face glowed as he embroidered on the theme. "He had beautiful jewel-like green eyes and hair that was soft as spun silk, of a radiance that outshone the sun. He lived in a war-torn country. His mother was queen. And he had many, many admirers. Everyone loved him, although he had his faults as well; he had a pretty nasty temper, and no one dared to admit their love for him."

Greta giggled. "Sounds familiar."

"Oh, really?" Murata asked blithely. "I'm sure that I wouldn't know who you were talking about." He chuckled at the embarrassed irritation written all over the prince's face. "Anyway, there came along an unknown knight whom they discovered was actually the rightful king of the country. So naturally, he became the ruler. And purely by accident, the prince was… er, elected by the citizens of the country…" Well, no harm in editing the story a little, "to become the king's fiancé."

Wolfram's eyes flashed a little at this comment, but Greta piped up before he could speak. "Were they a very loving couple?"

"No, actually." Murata smiled sadly. "The king and the prince were always at loggerheads with each other. The prince, at first, hated his engagement; but in the end he realized that he loved the king. The king, on the other hand, refused to recognize the stirring feelings that he felt in his heart. The prince was badly heartbroken over this."

"Does this have a happy ending?" Wolfram asked quietly, interrupting the flow of the story.

"I don't know, Wolf. Why don't you tell me the answer to that?"

Greta's eyes darted between the two of them. Sudden understanding and pain filled her eyes when she saw the wistfulness in the double black's face, the stubborn denial and heartache in Wolfram's. She was young, but she was a lot more in tune with these sorts of things than Yuuri ever would be. "Murata, does it have a happy ending?"

The Great Sage forced a smile at her. "Yes, of course, Greta."

"Then what happened to all the prince's admirers?"

He took a breath. "Most of them got over it eventually. There was one, though, who vowed to always love the prince, no matter what happened. No matter whether he was loved in return or not. He didn't care, because his heart already belonged to the prince whether the prince had asked for it or not. Even if it was rejected, he kept giving it. Even if he knew that it could harm him, the prince and the king, he couldn't help himself. He didn't want to hurt any of them… it just happened that way."

"I wanted the king and the prince to end up together," Greta murmured. "But… if there's really no way for that to happen… if there's really no choice… then I guess that it would be better if the prince fell in love with that admirer." Then, suddenly, she burst into tears. "The admirer isn't a bad man, even if he's a little selfish. He's in love, right?" She looked straight at Murata. "Right?"

_Yes Greta, very much so._

"Greta!" Wolfram went over to hug her at once before Murata could let the words slip out of his mouth. "It's… it's just a story, Greta. Nothing more than some silly figment of imagination."

"Is it?" Greta hiccupped. Even though she knew full well that they were only trying to calm her down, she grasped at any opportunity to deny the truth that she had unexpectedly realized. "It's not… it's not about Yuuri and you?"

"Of course not," Murata assured her, lying through his teeth. He gazed at the blonde, stroking his adopted daughter's hair. Wolfram looked rather upset himself, but he soothed her until she fell asleep.

"Great Sage… _Murata,_" he corrected himself when the two of them had kissed her, tucked her in and then got to the doorway. His eyes looked searchingly into the double black's. "I don't know what you meant by trying to distress Greta like that."

He shrugged helplessly. "I didn't mean to, Wolf. I couldn't help myself."

"Couldn't help what?"

A hand seemed to reach out of its own volition to finger a lock of that golden hair. "To say something." He cleared his throat, dropping the hand to one side. "I… am acting like a Great Dunce more than a Great Sage these days, I'm afraid."

Wolfram closed his eyes. "Then I suppose that I'm acting more like a von Idiot than a von Bielefeld." _Because I have been dreaming strange dreams, and wake up wanting you. Wake up from fantasies so vivid that I find marks on my neck and bruises on my lips.__Was my love for Yuuri this shallow that I could even think about… about… no. It isn't shallow, and it still haunts me. But I… I can't stop…_"Great Sage, please stop." _Or I'll die._

Murata forced a chuckle. "I was only teasing, Wolf."

Wolfram's throat constricted as he watched Murata drift away. Something made him wonder whether the Great Sage really had just been teasing him. And something told him that it wasn't the truth.

* * *

Later that night, Wolfram was in Yuuri's room. "Hi."

Yuuri felt a rush of joy at seeing the blonde demon back in their chambers. "Wolf! Are you staying…?" He saw the quizzical expression on the prince's face and felt his heart sink. "Ah, yes… what is it?"

Wolfram let out a nervous laugh. "I just wanted to apologize for that unseemly quarrel earlier today." He cast his eyes down at his feet. "I hope that you're not mad at me, Your Majesty."

"Wolf, could you stop calling me by my title? It's weird."

"Um, okay. Yuuri. Anyway, I'm sorry for losing my temper—even though I still think I'm right," he added as an afterthought. "So. There. Conrart said that we should make up, and I promised him that I would do so by tonight."

Actually, Conrart had been acting peculiar around him. As though he knew some dark secret that made him worry about him. Wolfram bit his lip, tasting the bruise there. Maybe Conrart had seen him get drunk the night before. He knew Wolfram well enough to know that the prince only ever let himself go like that hen he was emotionally upset. That was likely it.

"I guess it was kind of my fault too," Yuuri said, feeling the knot between his shoulders vanish. "I'm sorry. I overreacted."

"Well, it's not like it matters anymore," Wolfram said. "I'm not staying at the barracks, and that's the end of it."

"Oh yeah, you're bunking out with Murata," Yuuri said, smiling. He couldn't describe the smugness—and slight relief—that he felt. "Yes, I find that preferable to staying with your soldiers."

"If you don't mind my asking, why wouldn't you let me stay with them anyway?"

"Well… there are issues… you're part of the nobility, of course, and they're all commoners—"

Wolfram frowned. "Yuuri, look at me and tell me that with a straight face."

The double black couldn't find the resolve to raise his head. There was no way he could look Wolfram in the eye and spout that rubbish.

"You were never one to make distinctions," Wolfram pointed out. "You've always been the one to take the lead in equality and abolishing the class system. Ill as that makes me, I've been taking measures towards that. I've been trying to be more open-minded about the whole thing, and I found that you were right about most people. Actually, a lot of them are more fun than the stuffy nobles." Yuuri felt his blood boil, as he wondered whether that also meant Devon. "So tell me the truth, Yuuri."

Yuuri began fiddling with the buttons on his pajamas. "It's… a really stupid thing, okay? I really can't tell you right now."

Wolfram shrugged, feeling too tired and preoccupied with other things to pry the truth out of him. "Okay then. Goodnight."

"Hey Wolf… do you want to stay here?"

The prince glanced back. "Uh, what?"

Yuuri was talking very fast, and not looking at him at all. "I thought, you know, maybe you would prefer to sleep here… and it might be inconvenient to Murata and all that…"

_Inconvenient. _No, Yuuri was wrong; that word should be described for _their _situation, not his and the Great Sage's. Because apparently the Great Sage didn't mind in the least. Quite the opposite, really. For a moment Wolfram wavered, especially when he thought of the problems that could arise between Murata and himself later that night—especially after the story that he had told Greta. But still, Yuuri had already made things clear.

"No thanks, Yuuri. I don't wish to disturb your rest." _Okay, Yuuri. This is one chance to tell me whether you actually want me in here or not. Is this really just about Murata?_

He looked long at the king, searching for some glimmer of meaning in those dark, unfathomable eyes. "Unless you want me to." _This is your last chance. _

"Oh. Goodnight."

When the prince had left, Yuuri punched his pillow angrily. What was he, stupid? He had longed for this day for over two years; his own bed, at last! And yet he had tried to undo all of it by inviting Wolfram back.

And now that he had what he wanted, he wasn't the least bit happy.

* * *

"Yuuri's been acting kind of weird lately," Wolfram murmured as he changed into his nightgown. He felt kind of uncomfortable dressing with Murata right there, but he couldn't tell why. After all, Murata was another male, and he wasn't even looking at him.

"Weird in what way?"

"Mood swings," Wolfram said. "You know what I mean, don't you? He's been so peculiar…"

"It's all right, Wolfram," Murata assured him. "I think that Shibuya's just going through some changes right now. If you ask me, he should have dealt with them long ago." But with a pang of regret, he realized that he didn't think that it would turn out favorably for Wolfram.

"I suppose it doesn't matter," the prince mused, shaking his head. "It hasn't affected his ability to rule…"

"Is that all about him that matters to you?" Murata asked.

"Of course not, Great Sage." Wolfram let out a little laugh. "Perhaps I was just trying to reassure myself."

"You know that I'm here for you, right, Wolf?"

The blonde bit his lip, lost in the warm sea of those dark eyes. The proper answer was to nod, smile and say that yes, he knew that, and he would be glad to help Murata if the need ever arose as well. All very well and polite—the correct response from a comrade and a friend's fiancé. But instead he looked up at the double black through his long lashes and asked softly, "Why?"

Murata hesitated. There was no way he could keep looking at that face and lie. But he couldn't tear his eyes away either. _You can't look, but you see everything. _But now he had to look—he couldn't do otherwise. "I love you."

Wolfram drew in a sharp breath. "You… what?"

"Love you, Wolf, with every fiber of my being," Murata said, the words tumbling out of his mouth. "Even if you scorn what I give you, even if you care for… for someone else… it doesn't matter to me. My heart is yours, and I'll keep on giving it. You can do what you want with it. Because…" There were no words that he could use to encompass everything that was Wolfram, so pure, so beyond description. "Because you're you."

The prince shook his head violently. "I can't… I don't…" He couldn't bear looking at Murata at the moment, because if he did, he might just lose it. "Oh, Shinou."

Murata felt the corners of his lips quirk up at the irony of that statement. Shinou… Wolfram was the more emotional, loving, innocent version of Shinou. A golden-haired vision of beauty untainted by the shrewdness and lust for power that had worked to destroy their relationship eons ago.

"It's okay, Wolfram," he said with difficulty. "I've struggled with myself—with these… these feelings—for a while now. Perhaps since I first laid eyes on you. And I know that I can handle them. I only wish for your happiness." He smiled a little. "Are you afraid?"

"No," Wolfram found himself saying. "Not if it's you, Murata. I could never be afraid of you." _But I _am _afraid of what this could do to us._

"You can leave if you like."

"I… don't want to." Wolfram slipped into the bed beside him. "Great Sage?"

"Yes?" Murata was having trouble breathing normally with Wolfram so close next to him.

"I think I love you too."

Murata's head shot up. "_What_?"

Wolfram nodded miserably. He didn't turn, keeping his back towards Murata. Instead he played with the ribbons on his pink nightgown. "I hate myself for it. I might even hate _you_ for it. But yeah, I think so." He glared at the wall. "It's not like I _wanted _it to happen."

"It just did," Murata said, echoing the words he had used to tell the story earlier. "Wolf, what are we going to do?"

Wolfram finally faced him. "Do you really love me?" he asked in an incredulous voice—as though it was difficult for him to imagine anyone loving him.

Murata touched the side of his face very gently, realizing that Wolfram had become accustomed to Yuuri's graceless rejections and oblivious cruelty. "I told you. Even if my heart gets rejected, I'll keep on giving it."

"Then we're doomed." Wolfram scooted a bit closer to him. "Because I'm the king's betrothed, whether he wants me or not. I know that there's no point in sticking around in a loveless engagement, but even if I… if I love you…" He hesitated. "I think I do. Kind of…" _Is it love if you feel it for two people at once?_

"You still love Yuuri."

"Yeah."

"So…"

Wolfram hit him with the pillow, losing his patience. "Well, you're the bighead around here! Aren't you supposed to know what to do?" The Great Sage held in a laugh of delight at his incorrigible impulsiveness. Most people would never have dreamed of hitting the Great Sage.

Murata considered it. "Would you force yourself into a loveless relationship with Shibuya?"

"I would never do that."

"Then… since he so willingly claims not to love you…" Murata felt a pang of remorse, but stifled it. He remembered the dark mark that had marred that perfect wrist just hours ago, and he hated Yuuri for it. Hated him so much that he wanted to kill the king. "Let's just snatch at happiness where we can."

He recalled his words to Shinou, ages and ages ago: "I will be reincarnated forever, and my soul will retain all its memories. In exchange for that, I must give up my one chance at happiness."

"Your one chance at happiness?"

"Yes. At love."

He pushed the thought out of his head. Right now, he didn't give a damn about consequences; all he knew was that Wolfram was here beside him, right now, and that it was so long ago and all he could think of was how sweet he smelled and how much he had wanted this. "You know that I love you. And I'm glad that you love me. If ever Shibuya finally gets with the program and realizes that he likes you as more than just a friend, then you're free to choose."

"I can't do this to him. I don't think that I can choose, if I get involved with you," Wolfram said.

"Well, there's always the option of having a kinky threesome," Murata added wryly.

Wolfram hit him with the pillow again. "Is that all you can say? You PERVERT!" His cheeks flushed. "You're right." He sent a silent apology to Yuuri. _But you only wanted me to die, and he wants all of me. _"I'm free to choose. And right now, I'm choosing this because I want to. Is that wrong?"

Murata grinned and kissed him lingeringly, his hands smoothing down the wild flaxen hair. After what seemed like ages, they came up for air. He didn't need to answer the question; the light in his eyes was answer enough. "I love you." He would never get tired of saying it. After holding the words inside of him so long, the sound of them, the feel of them on his tongue, was the sweetest thing he had ever known.

Wolfram smiled and returned the kiss with one of his own. In response, he put his mouth near the Sage's ear and whispered, "Pervert."

* * *

The maids had come to the conclusion that without Conrart, Günter or Gwendal, Lord von Bielefeld was a much nicer person. The day after their departure, he had positively glowed, as though he was radiating joy. For one, he hadn't snapped at a single person, and he resumed his training with fresh energy, although he seemed rather anxious about something.

Murata was rather more discreet, although he was amused by the way the palace's inhabitants interpreted Wolfram's newfound happiness. He knew that Wolfram had never felt quite so loved. He felt a bit sorry for the blonde. Lady Cecilie, as affectionate as she was, wasn't exactly the best of mothers, as she was always running off somewhere—and in any case, Wolfram thought that she gave her love to almost everyone. Gwendal was Gwendal, and therefore not inclined to displays of fondness. There had been Conrart, and for a brief period in Wolfram's childhood, the prince had felt adored without condition. But of course that had fallen apart when he had learned that his half-brother was half-human. And Yuuri—he had thrown himself on Yuuri seeking desperately for some form of warmth, and the double black had simply taken it for granted. It was no wonder that Wolfram was so much more exuberant.

"I think it was because he was always afraid of one of those three stealing His Majesty away from him."

"No, I think that probably he and His Majesty consummated their relationship last night. They say that Lord von Bielefeld went to His Majesty's room again and they talked a little bit, but then His Majesty asked him to stay!"

The Great Sage choked with horror and laughter. In Shinou's name, Yuuri was only sixteen! For all the times Wolfram might have crawled in next to him, they had done nothing but sleep. He smiled fondly at the sparring prince, who was taking it rather easy on Devon.

Yuuri was a bit naïve, but he would have had to be a complete fool not to notice the change that had affected his fiancé overnight. "He seems chipper today," he remarked to Murata.

"Shibuya, what are you doing here?"

"Now that Conrart's gone, I figured I ought to ask Wolfram for lessons instead."

"Okay," Murata said, sounding almost as though he was giving permission. Wolfram was distracted a moment, glancing at them, and he smiled. He had no reason to feel worried, even if it was Yuuri.

"Why does it look like he's going easy on Devon?" questioned Yuuri, now sounding rather grumpy.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the double black king was jealous of Devon. Murata would have laughed if he wasn't so blameworthy; he didn't mind the other boy's misguided conclusions because they protected his relationship with Wolfram to a certain extent. "He's in a rare good humor today, Shibuya."

"Yeah, and it makes me wonder why."

Murata smiled. He knew why. And when Yuuri (or anyone else, for that matter) wasn't looking, he lightly touched his lips and winked at Wolfram. The blonde prince narrowly avoided getting beheaded by Devon when he got momentarily diverted.

"See? Normally he would have seen that coming a mile away!" Yuuri hissed into Murata's ear.

"Maybe he was thinking of other things," the Great Sage put in, amused and feeling faintly guilty, while the cadet apologized profusely. Wolfram was shaking his head and commending Devon instead, and apologizing in his turn for not focusing on their match. "See?"

"What I _don't _want to know is what exactly he was thinking of," Yuuri said.

Yeah, because if he knew, he would probably have bashed in his friend's head.

"That's enough for today, Devon. Go and practice with Andrew." Andrew, as punishment for his behavior the other night, had been put in charge of training the new recruit. It wasn't really much of a penalty, but Wolfram had allowed for the fact that a.) He had been speaking the truth, b.) He was piss-drunk and would never have said anything other wise and lastly, c.) The cadet had practically begged for his forgiveness the next day—and asked him to give him a harsh sentence.

"So, wimp," he said, turning to Yuuri and Murata. "Give me a twenty minute break before we begin?"

"What, you're tired already?" Yuuri asked.

Wolfram glared at him. "Of course not," he said haughtily. "It'll take a lot more than that to exhaust me. I'm just going to get something up at my room."

_My room. _Murata's face broke out into a smile. It was really _their _room, and Wolfram had only been there for one night—okay, three, but the other two weren't really official—but the prince already felt like it was his own. "I… locked it. I'll go up with you and open it."

The demon's eyes held a telltale flash of amusement in them, as though he had been intending this to happen all along. "Okay."

Why did it feel like they were talking in some kind of secret code? "Am I missing something here?" Yuuri asked out loud.

The other two jumped. "Ah… it's an inside joke," Murata said, shrugging.

"An inside joke… about locks?"

"Right," the Great Sage confirmed, grabbing Wolfram's arm. "Don't worry, we'll be right back."

When they were out of earshot, the two of them began to laugh. "An inside joke?" Wolfram said in disbelief. "About locks? That was the best you could come up with?"

"Why didn't _you_ say anything, then? How about—'I'm not going to get anything, I just wanted some alone time with the Great Sage'," Murata teased.

The prince gave him a mock-scowl. "Pervert," he scolded. "It's your fault! You were messing with me during training and I couldn't focus." His cheeks flushed. It was humiliating, having to confess that the mere presence of one boy could throw him off so completely. Especially when he himself had admitted that he wasn't sure what was between them. But it had been so long since he had felt so loved—had he ever felt this loved before?—and he couldn't hide his giddiness. It was all too intoxicating, much more so than all the wine he could have drowned himself in. And it was all going straight to his head.

"But you were being rather obvious today, love," pointed out Murata. "Have to be more careful. Couldn't you thunder and bluster a bit, just to cast suspicion off?"

Wolfram thought about it. "Nope, I can't. Your fault. You made me ridiculously cheerful," he said, lightly punching him on the arm. "You're going to spoil my reputation if you keep making me feel so happy."

"Do you mind?" Murata asked him. He glanced around quickly before planting a light kiss on the blonde's lips.

Letting out a laugh, Wolfram dragged him back to their room. "What do you think?"

* * *

A/N: Ack. Approximately 23 pages... what a headache. I'm still working over some parts of what happens next. I won't divulge exactly what I'm concentrating on editing, so I won't spoil the surprise. But for the first time--a positive ending to a chapter! (stands on a chair and cheers like a lunatic) I would also like to take this opportunity to apologize to my Yuuri x Wolfram roots. I'm an addict for the Y x W pairing, but I would still prefer writing the 'road less traveled' pairings like this one.

So... I'll try to update ASAP, once I've finished the next chapter. Remember--more reviews equals faster and longer updates! Thanks for reading!


	6. Rips and Tears

A/N: I hit 100!!!!

Okay... pardon me for freaking out here on you all, but I HIT 100! Thank you, thank you. All you reviewers out there... you're all absolute angels. Give yourselves a pat on the back and a big chocolate-chip cookie--or some healthy, organic whatsit; I'm not making any distinctions or discriminations here.

This chapter is especially dedicated to: Chris, my 100th reviewer, who unfortunately didn't use an ffnet account, so I couldn't reply to her/his comment--but I kind of get the whole suicidal thing, but still... there ARE things worth living for, at least for a while (like hitting 100 reviews!). Also to starlight2005: please, please take better care of your health. If you die, I might have to kill you. And to jinjyaa, for her 'sympathetic magic'--it worked for me, and I hope it'll work for you! Also, since I already made the blonde/blond mistake, I'll just let it go for this fic, but I'll work on it the next time.

And to all of you out there who took the time to review, thank you and this is for you. I can't ennumerate you all with all the things I would like to say, because even if I chopped down every Ent in creation (or imagination), I would still not have enough paper to write my gratitude. Also, the ent-protectors would go after me. LOTR fans would roast me alive.

Anyway, this is dragging on too long, so without further ado, I present to you Chapter Five.

* * *

Chapter Five: Rips and Tears

"Ah… Devon, was it?"

The cadet looked absolutely terrified when Yuuri had just walked up to him and addressed him that way. "Y-yes, Your Majesty!"

Well. So it wasn't the usual 'Yes, Lord von Bielefeld', but it wasn't exactly a big improvement. "Please drop the formalities." Trying to remember what Wolfram normally said, he added, "Uh… at ease, cadet." Somehow it didn't sound quite right when he was the one saying it. Wolfram had more authority than he ever would.

But still, the soldier seemed to relax a little, although it seemed to be more as though he was amused at Yuuri rather than reassured. "What is it, Your Majesty?"

Yuuri hesitated. "I was just wondering how you were finding things here. Since you're a new recruit and all that."

Devon smiled. "It's nice here, although I miss my home and family very much. Of course it's hard work, having to train every day, but I can understand why. And the troops go out of their way to make me feel welcome. Lord von Bielefeld especially."

The king grit his teeth. "Oh, really?"

"Yes," the cadet said with enthusiasm. "He's always been there when we needed him, and he gives me private training, and although he's part of the nobility, he's not afraid to join in with us. The squad would die for him, if we needed to."

Mentally he wished that the cadet _would _die, but he didn't voice that particular thought. "I hope that circumstances will never get that extreme, but I'm touched by your loyalty to my _fiancé_," he said, putting a lot of emphasis on the last word.

The soldier looked searchingly into Yuuri's eyes before smiling suddenly—no, it wasn't a smile; it was a _smirk_. "But of course, Your Majesty. I love Lord von Bielefeld with all my heart. You're lucky to have Prince Wolfram as your betrothed—of course we all wish you good fortune, even if I grieve at the thought of ever losing Lord von Bielefeld."

Was it just Yuuri's imagination or were Devon's eyes suddenly far away and weary, as though he was speaking of some great burden like… like losing a loved one? "What do you mean by that?" he snapped.

As though waking from some vision that had momentarily absorbed him, the soldier flushed and paled alternately. "I meant nothing at all, Your Majesty," he said, traces of wistfulness in his words, a soft sigh escaping his lips. "I hope, though, that even when the two of you are married, Lord von Bielefeld will remember…"

"Remember? Remember what?" Yuuri asked, his eyes narrowing.

Devon shook his head. "It's… it's nothing, Your Majesty. Just… just the good times that he's had with… with us."

Instinctively knowing that he would get nothing more out of the cadet, Yuuri heard himself say, "That's all, thank you", but without really realizing what he was doing. There was a strange roaring sound in his ears. He was sure—yes, he was absolutely sure—that there was something going on between Wolfram and Devon.

Shinou help that cadet if he couldn't control himself. In fact, he wasn't sure that he would have been able to if Wolfram hadn't come running back, being pulled along by Murata.

"It's only… been… nineteen minutes," Murata said breathlessly. Wolfram, for some reason, was also out of breath, although he knew that the demon had better lung capacity than _that_. Had they just run around the whole castle? More likely, they had run in with Greta and amused the little trickster before dashing back.

"Nineteen and a half," Wolfram corrected him between gulping down air.

Yuuri laughed. "You guys didn't have to take the whole twenty minute thing _that _seriously. What was it that you got, anyway?"

"Just something I forgot to take care of earlier," Wolfram said breezily. "What were you talking to Devon about? You chea—"

He fell silent before finishing the sentence. He would never be able to fling that accusation at Yuuri ever again, not when he himself… no. He would not feel guilty. He could not. At the same time there was no way he could break away. The paradox was confusing and frustrating, but unavoidable.

"Ah… just asking how he was settling in."

Wolfram rolled his eyes. "Well, you could have asked _me_. I know that he's doing wonderfully. We all do our little parts to try to make him feel at home." He sighed. "Devon's an orphan—that was one of the reasons why I took him in; he had no family, no home… he just turned up somewhere near the borders of the Demon Kingdom. I wasn't sure whether I should have taken him in or not, but Lord Weller convinced me. I'm glad that I did, though. He's amazingly talented."

For some odd reason, Yuuri looked displeased by the comment. "Can we just start practice now?"

"You seem eager to train," Wolfram noted. "You used to hate fencing practice. Something about it being too violent, if I remember correctly."

"I want to learn how to protect myself—and what's precious to me," Yuuri protested.

Something flickered in Wolfram's eyes. Something, perhaps, like a reminder of why exactly he loved Yuuri? Murata felt a wave of dread pass over him when Wolfram said steadily, "That's noble of you."

Yuuri's ears turned red. "No, no, I just—"

"C'mon, Shibuya, lighten up! I think it's pretty cool," Murata added quickly, defusing the moment. "Man, if Günter was here, he would probably be rhapsodizing about all your wonderful, heroic qualities…"

Wolfram laughed too, although it sounded queer and very unlike him. He merely picked up his sword. _I love you,_ he thought, glancing at Murata. _And you too, Yuuri. _"Okay, wimp. It's time for training." His emerald eyes flashed. "And be prepared for… what did you call it again? Wolfram von Bielefeld's 'training camp of doom'."

"WHAT?! That's not fair! How come Devon got off easy?"

"Devon's different," Wolfram said coolly.

Yuuri's face broke out into a black scowl. "Whatever," he said. Then he frowned at Wolfram. "It isn't like you to associate with those beneath you."

"There you are again with the discrimination thing! Aren't you the one who said that we shouldn't make distinctions between the classes?" Wolfram asked, bewildered.

* * *

The next day, at breakfast…

"Greta, please pass the salt."

Greta looked up at him quizzically as she passed it to him. "Why are we the only ones here?"

"I don't know either," Yuuri sighed. "Of course, Conrart, Günter and Gwendal are away… Lady Cecilie's just up and left for her free-love thing last night… and Anissina's been holed up in her lab these past couple of weeks. No one can get her to come out, and the last few people who tried got roped into becoming test subjects."

"What about Wolfram and Murata?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

Greta looked darkly down at her food, a knowing light in her eyes.

Actually, they were still asleep.

Last night, they had had a very serious talk. It might have blown into a Yuuri-Wolfram type argument, but luckily they hadn't gotten _that _bad yet.

"Are you sure you're okay with what's going on?" Murata asked gravely.

"Of course I'm okay," Wolfram replied. "Don't make me doubt my decision, Murata. I thought about it a little, and I think that I've done what I need to do."

"You know what we're like?" Murata asked him. "Back on earth, there are these birds called halcyons. I remember that my mother from a long, long time ago—an era or two, I suppose—said that they built their nests in the middle of storms. And they had the power to calm the waves while everything was chaotic around them."

"We're halcyons," Wolfram said, smiling.

"And you don't mind… that Yuuri…?"

Wolfram shook his head. "Don't get me wrong… if there's any chance whatsoever that I can make Yuuri fall in love with me, I can't say honestly that I won't take that opportunity… but on the other hand, these… feelings… that I have for you… what I feel for Yuuri doesn't subtract from that."

Murata stroked his hair. "Thank you, love."

"I need a promise from you."

They stopped and looked determinedly, searchingly at each other. "Swear to me that even… even if Yuuri and I…" Wolfram looked down at the ribbons on his nightgown. "I want you not to be jealous. Or even if you are, don't let it interfere with your duties as a Great Sage. Above anything, we have to preserve the Demon kingdom. If there was ever a conflict between you and Yuuri… it would be chaos."

"You have my word of honor," Murata murmured. "And in turn, I also pledge to love you forever."

Wolfram averted his eyes. "Don't," he whispered.

"Wolf, if you really think that I could love anyone else after this, you're wrong." He had never made such an oath, not even to Shinou. But after the past couple of days with Wolfram, he had realized that it was the truth.

The prince didn't answer, merely leaned his head on Murata's shoulder. For hours they had said nothing, merely reveled in each other's presence. It was near dawn that they finally fell asleep.

Until…

"_Shit!_" From inside the Great Sage's room, they heard the sound of something crashing, things falling, and something large thudding to the ground.

"Ouch!" they heard another voice join in, with Wolfram's distinct tones. "That hurt!" They heard the prince retaliate with a noisy _thwack_!

"Sorry, sorry," the Great Sage said, trying to placate him. "Didn't mean to do that."

"What time is it?"

"It's… I think we missed breakfast."

"WHAT? I HAD TRAINING!" They heard another flurry of movement and more things crashing to the floor.

"ARGH! WOLFRAM!" They heard Murata let out a yelp.

"Well, you were the one who crushed me in the first place," Wolfram returned noisily—and rather crossly, it must be confessed. "Now we're even. And I didn't do it on purpose!"

Then, to the surprise of all the people who had stopped to listen, they heard chuckles coming out from inside. After a while twin peals of laughter rang out. Finally there was a brief moment of silence, although they assumed that they were merely talking too softly for their words to pierce the door's wooden frame. Finally the door was flung open and both of them came out, fully dressed. The two of them were perplexed at finding an audience awaiting them.

"Er…" Wolfram turned red and laughed nervously.

"Show's over," Murata added, addressing one of the maids. "Although we kind of made a mess… could you clean the room?"

Peeking behind him, the maid stared with shock at the sheets lying all over the floor, objects haphazardly strewn on the ground, and last but not least, feathers in the air. Yes, they had just emptied the pillows, and now the stuffing was everywhere.

"Sorry," Wolfram said meekly.

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Yuuri said, tilting his head to one side as Wolfram helped him sort out the papers. "When Murata got up, he tripped on the covers, which somehow managed to slide to the floor when you two were asleep."

"Right," Wolfram managed to agree. Actually, they had thrown the sheets onto the floor on purpose while they were half-asleep, because they found it much too hot to share both their body heat _and _doze under the heavy blankets.

"And then he crashed into the dresser, and when he stood up, he stumbled and fell back on you."

Murata winced at the memory of Wolfram's screech when he had accidentally landed on the demon. "Uh-huh. Sorry, Wolf," he said as he handed another stack of documents to Yuuri. "I already sorted out which ones you should sign, Shibuya."

"So when you—"

"—practically broke my back," inserted Wolfram.

"Er, I was going to say fell on you, but whatever," Yuuri acknowledged with a shrug before turning back to Murata. "Then Wolf started hitting you with the pillows."

The Great Sage's eyes twinkled. "He's got killer aim, even when he's just woken up."

"I heard the maids were horrified. Feathers flying everywhere," Yuuri said, grinning.

"Be quiet," Wolfram grumbled. "And Yuuri, you're smearing ink on that bridge construction plan." Murata took it from the king and moved it out of harm's way, but Yuuri was too busy being entertained by the morning's events.

"And then when Wolfram tried to rush out of bed, _he _tripped on the blankets and practically wrecked the room in the process."

"Hey!" Wolfram protested. "It wasn't _that _bad." Actually, he had had a headlong collision with the nightstand, making Murata rush over to his side—only to have the Great Sage tumble onto him (on purpose, he suspected). They had had a good laugh and shared a quick peck on the cheek with Murata lying atop Wolfram, chuckling at their clumsiness, before they had headed out.

Yuuri grinned. "Sure."

Wolfram's stomach grumbled. The prince's cheeks turned pink but he pretended to have heard nothing. "I had morning training, too," he muttered. "I'll have to make up for it with the troops later. And I'd better apologize to them."

"It's not like you to wake up late anyway," Yuuri added thoughtfully.

The blonde risked a glance in Murata's direction. "I didn't get very much sleep last night," he answered truthfully enough. "I was worried about the kingdom. The Great Sage and I were discussing the future of the realm last night."

"Wow. Serious," Yuuri said, feeling bad that all he had thought of last night were random, bizarre plots to assassinate Devon. His best, by far, was to take him to earth, dump him into a vat or toxic waste, and then use him as a source of renewable fuel for the Great Demon Kingdom. It was nice… very environmentally friendly. But he couldn't understand why he felt so murderous towards the cadet. The only thing he could come up with was that Wolfram preferred him, and he had gotten used to the prince liking him best. "You guys think too much."

"You don't think enough," corrected Wolfram. His stomach grumbled again.

"Hungry, Wolf?" Yuuri asked, grinning.

"No!" protested Wolfram, glaring at him. "Shut up."

"Well, _I'm _hungry," Murata said. "And seeing as we spent the WHOLE night thinking of the FUTURE of the GREAT DEMON KINGDOM, I think that Wolfram and I deserve a break. You, on the other hand, will be stuck here, chained to the desk and signing all these boring documents."

"WHAT?" Yuuri yelped. "That's not fair!"

"_Indeed_, Great Sage, I think you are correct," Wolfram said in a mock-grave voice. It wasn't typical of the blonde prince to joke around, but he seemed so much more light-hearted now. "It seems that His Majesty has spent the whole night snoring, and therefore must not shirk his duty."

"I DON'T SNORE!"

"Why, do you listen to yourself when you're asleep?" Murata asked as the prince laughed at his king.

"Um… no."

"Then you're not really in a position to defend yourself, are you?"

Yuuri glared. "Murata, you can go get your food—for both you and Wolf. I'm keeping him hostage here to make sure the two of you don't escape." When Wolfram opened his mouth to complain, he added, "Sorry, Wolfram. That's an order." But he added a laugh to it so that they knew that he didn't mean to talk down to them.

Murata smirked. "Seems you've been acting pretty high-and-mighty these days, Your Majesty." He patted Wolfram on the head, ignoring the blonde's irritated remonstrations. "I'm off to raid the kitchens."

The king smiled when the door swung shut behind his friend. "He's annoying, but he kind of grows on you. Like a fungus."

Wolfram laughed. It was a melancholy sound, and yet fond. "He's quite the character, isn't he?"

"Yeah. I'm glad that you guys are good friends now," Yuuri said cheerfully.

"Oh, we've been friends for a while, Yuuri," Wolfram replied.

"Really? But you guys seem so much closer nowadays," the king said with his classic naivety.

Wolfram smiled sadly. "Oh yes. Very close indeed."

* * *

When he was nine years old, Wolfram died.

Perhaps he didn't _literally _die, but metaphorically, he buried some part of himself—at an age where human children are roughly equivalent to five or six.

It began with his father, Wolfgang von Bielefeld—a man whom he resembled closely, although perhaps his hair was a shade brighter, his eyes a touch darker, and his father was of a stockier build, as opposed to the slender frame he had inherited from his mother.

His father had brought home a beautiful antique jewel, one that he told them not to touch. "It contains special powers," he warned them, opening the case a little to reveal a glossy emerald that was the exact color of Wolfram's eyes. His brothers, Gwendal and Conrart, nodded solemnly and walked away.

Wolfram, on the other hand, had stared with silent longing at the stone. He was feeling perverse that day; it was the day that he had discovered that Conrart was not like him, that he would only be his mother's pretty son. He was in a mood to do something reckless. And, like any good nine-year-old, he wanted to disobey.

Well, he hadn't really touched it. It was more like he opened the case and, marveling at the tiny facets of light playing on the crystal surface, had taken it out and held it in his chubby infant hands.

The crash and bang of the explosion had alerted the whole castle. And of course, Wolfgang was the first one to rush in and stare at the little boy bleeding badly in the middle of the room, his green eyes wide. And yet he still held on tightly to the jewel.

"Are you a fool?" Wolfgang roared, yanking him up by the scruff of his shirt. His mother Cecilie let out a cry when her 'beloved little angel' was manhandled by his own father, but Wolfgang ignored her.

He knew that all his tears would only further enrage his father. Instead, he swallowed them and raised his icy eyes to face him. There was no point trying to run away—no point in begging for mercy.

Wolfram glared, removing his father's hands from him and dusting himself off. He ignored the copious amount of blood flowing down from the cuts on his head and body as he drew himself up, although he realized with a sense of detachment that _yes, _all the red pooling on the ground was _his_.

"No, I'm not a fool," he snapped, throwing his head back arrogantly. "I am Prince Wolfram von Bielefeld, and I am no idiot."

The whole room fell silent. Wolfgang was known for his horrible temper, and to think that his nine-year-old demon offspring had the guts to speak to him in such a manner!

"You, boy," his father said, teeth bared in ferocious snarl, "are going to be shipped off for training _as soon as possible_."

Wolfram interrupted his mother's objections, his brother's dissentions, and Wolfgang's angry roaring. "As you wish," he said simply, resolving to become a great officer. He would show his father, he would show all of them.

Of course Cecilie had her way and kept him at the castle, but Wolfram's attitude had not changed. He raged against the coddling that they continued to give him. His father and mother split up because they differed in their opinion of how to raise him.

Every story had a beginning, and for Wolfram, this was his. It was also the end, the end of the little boy that he had been.

"It's strange to have a part of you dead," he said softly, not knowing that he had said it aloud.

"Eh?" Yuuri raised his eyebrows. "What're you talking about?"

The prince chuckled. "Just… a metaphor. From a long, long time ago. Half-forgotten, really." Was it? He wondered… again and again he had failed, tried again, had not known what to do. But he refused to give. He was Prince Wolfram von Bielefeld, and he wanted to be the best. Even though they snickered at him—the mongrel third son of a loose woman, even if she _was _the queen—he kept on at it. He had agreed with his father; he needed the training.

And had he succeeded? No. In fact, all he had as a claim to fame was being the king's consort apparent. There were better swordsmen, better nobles, and better officers—lucky for him, there was only one royal fiancé. Well, that, and garnering the Great Sage's heart. Absent-mindedly, he grabbed Yuuri's wrist. "You idiot, don't sign that! That's the reject pile, can't you see?"

"Well, how was I supposed to know?"

"You mean aside from the fact that it has REJECT PILE written on it in big, bold letters?"

"Oh…"

But Murata made him doubt his decision. He wondered if, after all those years, the little fool whom he had buried was still alive. It seemed like the Great Sage was resurrecting him. And indeed, that boy was a fool; risking everything for a madcap affair with the Great Sage? When he was the king's betrothed?

A fool.

"Am I supposed to sign these?"

"No, of course not, even though Murata already marked it URGENT and PRIORITY and NEEDS IMMEDIATE ATTENTION and SHIBUYA YOU'D BETTER SIGN THESE OR I'LL KICK YOUR ASS." Wolfram rolled his eyes at him. "Do you really need to ask?"

"Uh…"

"That was a rhetorical question, by the way. Answer it at your own risk."

"Well, then…"

"Yuuri. I advise you to keep signing and keep your mouth shut. Unless you want to be flambéed for tonight's dinner."

He stood up suddenly and opened the door. Murata stood blinking on the other side, his arms full, gripping onto a tray that was loaded with food, apparently at a loss on how to knock or open the door and about to raise his voice to ask for help. "Hey. How'd you know that I was already here?"

"I kind of guessed. I think I just knew that you were there." He snatched at a sandwich on the tray and sat back down.

Murata waited until Yuuri was completely absorbed in reading an interesting document concerning peace with the human countries. "You okay, Wolf?"

"Yeah, of course," Wolfram whispered back, squeezing Murata's arm underneath the table. "I am now."

The boy was a fool. But he was a live fool—and a loved fool.

* * *

_Dear Conrart,_

_We're doing well here—even though it's already been a week since you guys left. Greta and Wolfram haven't blown up anything yet, thank goodness._

Conrart chuckled. "Well, there's a first," Jossak said as he read aloud. "Little Lord Brat hasn't made anything explode in a whole seven days?"

"Minor miracle," agreed Conrart.

_Wolf insists on training every day, though—but he's been waking up pretty late nowadays. He can't get up earlier than noon anymore, and the whole castle is taking bets on what time he and Murata will get up. They always trash the room in the process; this morning the maids nearly fainted when they had to clean up. He gets annoyed whenever I tease him about it, but it's so funny to see him go red and mad. _

"Waking up late?" Conrart wondered.

"Probably up all night doing… stuff," Jossak said, grinning. Conrart was pretty sensitive about discussing his brother and… well, that _thing _he had going on with the Great Sage. Still, Jossak couldn't resist.

_Tell Gwendal not to worry; I've been attending to the official duties and yes, Anissina's under control. So far, anyway. Wolf and Murata sort everything out for me and tell me what to sign. But those two like taking revenge on me for teasing them for sleeping late, and the consequences… aren't exactly enjoyable. Yesterday they played a prank on me and I accidentally signed out a marriage announcement that said that you have to marry Jossak. Sorry about that. Looks like you two will have to get hitched when you get back._

"WHAT?" Jossak sputtered, laughing as he watched the mixture of emotions fly across Conrart's face: horror, shock, amusement and even perhaps a little bit of secret gladness? Nah. "Those devils!"

"Don't think that I'm about to do it," Conrart warned him darkly.

"Of course not," Jossak said with a mock-bow. "Heaven forbid, captain!" Then he smirked. "Will you wear the wedding dress, or shall I? I rather think that I would look prettier in it."

_And then they played the same thing on me a couple of days ago, and now Gwendal has to give up all his stuffed animals because there's a kingdom-wide ban on knitting. _

"Gwendal won't take that well," Conrart said, grinning.

"Understatement of the year, Captain of the Obvious."

_Everyone's trying to be more cheerful now, I think. Greta misses you and Gwendal and Jossak a lot._

"No mention of Günter, I notice," added Jossak mischievously.

_But still, she manages—she spends a lot of time with me, Wolf, Murata and Lady Cecilie and Anissina. And she sends her love. Wolfram seems to have mellowed out a little bit, although he's spending far too much time with one particular cadet. I disapprove of it, and I have told him of my views on this matter—_

"Did the king just grow a backbone? Because I could have sworn that he suddenly went serious," Jossak said, swiping the letter from Conrart. "Let's see… blah, blah, blah. Tons of jealousy hidden in convoluted words. Man, he actually sounds like a king in here—lots of nobility-type talk. Very boring. Can we skip that?"

"Oh, very well," Conrart said, taking it back. He could read it again later. Yuuri raved a lot about Wolfram and something about 'fraternizing with his troops'—almost all the way to the very end, in fact.

_We hope that the month will end soon. We miss you guys a lot! Wolfram and Murata do too, but they say that it's more fun (not to mention easier) to torture me when you guys aren't around._

_Pleeeeeeease come back and save me from these two! _

_I miss you guys as well, and not just because I'm afraid of someday signing some war treaty by accident or because Wolfram still puts me through the training camp of doom everyday. Hope to be hearing from you soon._

_Love,_

_Yuuri_

* * *

"Done writing to Conrart?" Murata asked.

"Yeah, I sent the letter off fifteen minutes ago," said Yuuri. "What did I miss?"

"The pep talk ala Wolfram von Bielefeld," said Murata, grinning. "But be quiet, he's still in the middle of it. Maybe we can still hear some of the good parts."

Wolfram looked seriously at his troops. "Now that a week has ended… I'm sure that you're all wondering why we sent off the rest of the military forces. We have received word of a perceived threat to strike one of the villages near here. I apologize to all of you for not informing you sooner." They gawked at him, but he continued. "And so, men, it is left to us to protect the castle."

"Are you sure he should be saying all this?" Yuuri asked. "He makes it sound like some sort of suicide mission."

"Sure, why not? Makes him sound impressive as hell."

"This will last for a month. Afterwards, the rest of the troops will return. Until then, the Great Demon Kingdom is relying on each and every one of you." He gave them a smoldering, demon-eyed stare. "Is that clear, men?"

"Yes, Lord von Bielefeld!" they all roared as one.

"Wow," Yuuri said approvingly. Wolfram looked like some kind of avenging angel, sent to encourage his soldiers. The prince held his sword aloft, his eyes blazing with green fire. Then he spoiled the solemn picture by smiling—but Yuuri still liked that smile.

"Very bishounen," Murata snickered.

"He's wonderful, isn't he?" Devon asked him innocently from his spot near Yuuri, the words so distant that it seemed that he was just thinking out loud. Then he blushed. "I apologize for speaking so familiarly to you, Your Majesty."

"Think nothing of it," Yuuri said with uncharacteristic stiffness. "What were you saying?"

"Merely admiring Prince Wolfram, Your Majesty," he murmured with a bow before going off to get closer to the front where Wolfram was giving some instructions.

Murata put a hand on Yuuri's shoulder. "Cool it, Shibuya. He's not the only one who thinks that_." Heck, I think that_… but then again, some things were better left unsaid.

"Yeah, but he's the only one who has the guts to compliment my fiancé to my face," Yuuri said, annoyed.

"You used to hate mentioning that Wolfram was your fiancé. Now you're prattling about your engagement almost every other sentence."

Yuuri reddened. "Well, I—"

Murata felt a cold shiver of apprehension slide down his spine. If Shibuya was going to realize that he liked Wolfram—right _now,_ just when had had gotten somewhere with the blonde demon—he wasn't sure that he would be able to take it. "Now shut up for a second, Wolfram's explaining something about the defenses," he said hurriedly, interrupting the king. "And unlike _some _people—hint, hint, Shibuya—I plan on listening so that I can help out with the troops."

"I listen!"

"Great, so what was Wolf saying?"

"Uh…"

Wolfram ignored the teasing argument that had unfolded between the two. "We're weakest on the east side, but no one else knows that. However, since there are so few of us, I won't be able to concentrate on that area. Those who wish to volunteer to guard that area—"

His voice was soon swallowed in the cacophony of cadets clamoring for the position. That was one of the things that he loved about them; they were all dying to prove themselves, to take on the worst and hardest jobs without complaint—with enthusiasm, even. His heart swelled with hidden pride as he scrutinized them. "Andrew, Devon, Bernard and Sylva can take care of it," he decided. "I'll be stationed there myself."

"I'll help out there too, Wolf," Murata offered.

"Same here," Yuuri added.

"Thank you—both of you. But I'm hoping that your help isn't necessary… we don't exactly want to get the King and Great Sage involved in something like this. You could get hurt. The main problem, naturally, will be communication between the guards," Wolfram fretted. "If one side is under attack, the others might not find out until it's too late. Since there are so few of us, we can't spare any to send messages and such…"

"It's all right, Prince Wolfram. We can always send signals via magic."

"Then we'll all have to be doubly on the alert. We'll have to patrol more at night. I know that it'll be hard since we'll all lose more sleep, but…"

"Of course not, Lord von Bielefeld!" one of them protested. Wolfram smiled at Bernard, the one speaking. "We're honored that we were chosen for this duty."

"More like no one else was available, but whatever works for them," muttered Yuuri. Murata bit back a laugh.

"Then that is what how we will proceed," Wolfram agreed solemnly. "I thank you all for your valor."

"I bet you he's trying very, very hard not to laugh," Murata whispered to Yuuri. Wolfram's ears turned pink when he heard them, but he made no comment.

The next night they were attacked. They didn't feel very much like laughing then.

* * *

A/N: I wrote this when I was in a quasi-cheerful mode, hence the insanity with Yuuri and Conrart. I suppose you guys can anticipate what's coming, but I still have a few surprises up my sleeve.

As always, the more reviews, the faster the updates. Now I'm setting my goal for 200 reviews! Hahaha. I'm so greedy. But again, thanks to you all--thank you for reading this far, and I hope you'll continue to give me your excellent feedback!


	7. Captivity and Silence

A/N: Super sorry to everyone for such a late update. I have just been so darn crazy-busy, and it's only now that my schedule has a rare light moment in it. Starting tomorrow, though, I'm back in workload hell. I took the opportunity to type up this quick chapter, although I had no time to edit it or anything. So I'm really, really sorry if it's not all that good this time.

Also, as my registered reviewers know, I reply to all reviews--although I haven't answered those who aren't registered at FFnet. I'd just like to give a shout-out of thanks to them. I'm especially pinpointing Chris, because I'm concerned about you, dear mysterious reviewer. I hope that whatever's going on in your life works out somehow.

Lastly, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my friend Brad Trinity 666, for helping me out during exams. He doesn't read this fic--he doesn't do Kyou Kara Maou and only reviews my CCS story--but even if he doesn't know it, I'm thanking him. And of course to starlight2005, beloved best friend!

Well, this is taking a bit too long, so without further ado, I present to you Chapter Six.

* * *

Chapter Six: Captivity and Silence—the Lies that Hide the Truth

"How did this happen?" Conrart asked grimly. Greta shook her head through wordless sobs. Thankfully, the fire had been put out just a few hours ago, but the smell of flames and sulfur lingered in the air. It reminded him of his little brother—and where Wolfram was, he didn't know. For a second he glanced down at the many golden-haired corpses littering the ground but he tore his eyes away.

"He's not there," Gwendal told him, looking down as well and going white. Still, he kept his voice steady, like the true soldier that he was. "Thank Shinou—although we still can't be sure whether he's alive or not." The older man looked upset for once, his anxiety cracking through his usual stern exterior. "I thought that he would be safer here at home."

"No one could have known what was coming," Günter interjected. "It wasn't your fault."

Gwendal shook his head. "No, it was my responsibility to foresee this."

"Greta, darling, it may be very hard for you, but could you tell us what happened?" Conrart asked gently.

Slowly she lowered her hands from her face. "They took them," she said in a tremulous voice. "They took Yuuri, Wolfram and Murata."

"Who did?"

"They came during the evening… or early morning. I can't remember properly." She shook her head. "And now they're gone."

In a cage, miles and miles away, Wolfram leaned against the bars before shying away from them almost immediately.

"You okay, Wolf?" Yuuri whispered from the cage beside his.

"I'm fine," the prince said, curling up into a little ball in the very middle of his prison. "I don't really feel like talking right now, Yuuri." Tears seeped out of the corners of his eyes. "I didn't know that he was a traitor."

"You can't blame yourself for what Devon did," Yuuri said comfortingly.

"It's all my fault!"

It had been sometime around two in the morning when a larger-than-expected band of humans had arrived. Better-equipped, and certainly more prepared than they had ever dreamed. Even Conrart wouldn't have been able to foresee what would happen.

It had been Wolfram's turn on patrol, at the east side of the walls—just where they were weakest. He had just prepared to shoot up his signature flames when he had felt a knife on his neck and a hand skillfully snatching his sword away from him.

"I don't advise that, Prince Wolfram."

"Devon!" he breathed. "You—"

Still, he wasted no time and shot up the tongues of fire. With a curse, Devon placed the knife closer to his skin, making a small incision. He gasped, felt dizzy; it was a blade made of esoteric stone. "You're a demon too," he managed to say.

"I'm an orphan, Lord von Bielefeld. Surely you knew that? Grew up on the very borders of the Great Demon Kingdom, where I was taken in by humans instead of my own kind." A smile forced it way on his face. "I'm a half-blood, Prince Wolfram. And I have no reason to be grateful or loyal to the Demon Kingdom."

And to think that he had accepted Devon because he had felt sorry for him! "You lousy human scum!" he said. If he couldn't attack with his magic, the least he could do was lash out at the boy; weaponless, he tried to strike with his fists, but Devon leapt agilely out of the way.

"It's nice to see that all the training you gave me hasn't gone to waste, Lord von Bielefeld. I learned a lot from you." Devon looked almost sorry. "And I suppose that I fell in love with you like all the rest, but even you aren't worth giving up everything that my adopted race has done for me."

"I don't care for your flowery professions of some sad infatuation," Wolfram snapped. "They're coming. Can you really butcher your comrades in cold blood?"

For a moment Devon seemed to pale at the statement before he recovered and said, "_These_are my true comrades." He smiled at a group of men who had appeared out of nowhere. Oh, Shinou! They were already inside.

"He's the one who sent up that signal? We ought to wring his pretty little neck."

"No!" Devon said harshly. "He's the demon king's fiancé. He's insurance; as long as we have him, they won't fight back."

Wolfram heard the words with a sense of dread. "No, no…" he tried jerking his head back so that dagger would bite deeper into his skin. The esoteric stone would have killed him, but Devon quickly moved it away. "They're going to come, and they're going to fight!" They would, wouldn't they? He felt nauseated as Devon thrust him at one of the rebels.

"Keep an eye on him," Devon said sharply. "But mind that you don't treat him too roughly, or we'll have a pack of trouble." He winced when he saw Wolfram's beautiful head of golden hair grasped in the man's hand to hold him up, because Wolfram was weakening rapidly.

His soldiers came pouring in, and he was relieved to see the mass of blue-uniformed men through misty, blurred eyes. They stared at him, held up by a mere hank of hair in some rough human's hand.

"Don't just stand there!" he cried out. Devon held the knife menacingly to his throat, but Wolfram just laughed sardonically. By pure instinct, he knew that the traitor wouldn't actually do it. "Go ahead and try, Devon. It would be the worst stunt for you to pull." He raised his head at his soldiers. "FIGHT, DAMN YOU!"

He felt a foot kicking his stomach, and he crumpled. He was relieved only by the sound of war cries and anger from his men. _Good._Through his rapidly darkening vision, he could barely make out the faint outlines of two double blacks racing to the scene. And that was all he remembered before he passed out.

* * *

Murata reflected that in retrospect, their actions had been admirable; very noble, very brave—but also very, very stupid.

"The double black," the humans had muttered, glaring at them. "Two of them."

Devon smiled, waved, trying to look nonchalant as he did so but failing spectacularly; he looked odd—a demon in the midst of humans. He looked like a reminder of some sin from the past. And he was killing his comrades, although Murata could see the greenish cast of his face when he did so. Andrew fell first; then came Bernard. All the people who had been appointed to guard the east side with him. And he was using the moves that Wolfram himself had taught him.

Murata felt Yuuri going into King Mode, until suddenly Murata grabbed his arm. _No, no, no! _

"Shibuya,_no!_"

Yuuri's big grayish-black eyes looked back at him; still devoid of the magic that he used, thank Shinou. But already he could see tendrils of blue light mixing with his dark hair. "Murata, what…?" Already his voice had lowered to a growl of anger.

The Great Sage's words were choked, but it only took three words. "They have Wolf." And everyone else was dead.

"Wolfram?" The magic faded. His eyes fell on the prince slumped limply on the ground, a knife held to his throat made of the same shining material of the swords of their enemies. His eyes narrowed. No wonder; they were made of esoteric stone. Devon was good, but not good enough to take down a whole squad without some 'help'—in other words, telling his human friends to utilize the demon weakness. He saw that there was a cut on Wolfram's neck, and the blonde demon wasn't breathing. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?"

"Even if you tried to use magic to save him, he would be dead before you would be able to finish us off," Devon warned. "He's still alive. But if you act, not for long."

"Shibuya…"

Yuuri's face darkened, but he did nothing. "Do we have any choice?"

"He's our insurance," one of the humans said smugly.

"DON'T TALK ABOUT HIM LIKE THAT!" Yuuri yelled. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

"We don't _think_ we're anything. We're his captors."

"I swear to you, you will _die_for this," Yuuri hissed. Murata put a warning hand on his shoulder. He couldn't let Yuuri lose control. He wanted to rip them apart, one by one, sentencing each man to a slow and painful death… but that would have to wait until Wolfram was safe in his arms again. He couldn't let them do anything to risk Wolfram.

"What is your purpose in coming here?" Murata asked.

"We have come to claim what is rightfully ours, demon filth. This land is ours and your king is but our slave."

"So basically you're thugs making delusional claims," Yuuri said angrily. "I've tried making peace with the humans!"

"That's what you _claim_to be doing," one said coldly. "And yet, if that were true, why do you continue oppressing our people? That incident where you fled with our female prisoners at the esoteric mines—"

"They were married to demons! Of course I had to take them back, they didn't commit any crimes!"

"Yes, they did." Devon glared at him. "Mixing the races—what were they thinking?"

"You can't control love!"

"What do you know of love?" Devon pointed out.

Yuuri turned crimson. "I... I love Wolfram!" he burst out. Murata paled, but restrained him with difficulty.

"Calm down, Shibuya," he said softly. "You're making the situation worse. We can't do or say anything that will let them get the upper hand."

"It is a crime," they said, and it was settled; they left no room for argument (or rather, they refused to listen to Yuuri afterwards). "And you have committed a crime as well, by breaking our rules and setting free prisoners over whom you have no authority."

But Wolfram's signal had not gone unnoticed; in a nearby village, Gwendal's men were already riding towards them. Conrart, Jossak and Günter were on the way as well.

One of the human lookouts came towards them. "It's no use, we can't take the castle all in one go—and apparently _this_brat alerted them." And with that he kicked Wolfram in the side. Yuuri was alarmed to note that Wolfram didn't even respond to this brutality.

"Burn it, then."

"NO!" Yuuri cried out, but Murata grabbed him.

"Shibuya, whatever you try to do, they'll take it out on Wolfram. And don't think that they'll just kill him outright; they'll torture him slowly." He exhaled slowly. "We have no choice."

"But… Greta… and Anissina…"

"They don't know that they're there," Murata said quietly. "I told them to hide in the woods behind here just before we came out."

"Stop whispering," ordered one of the humans. "Just stand there." He leveled a sword at Yuuri's throat. "And this one will die."

Murata let out a laugh. "Just try it."

"He'd better do as we say, if he doesn't want his pretty little fiancé to get killed…"

"Don't, Yuuri," he whispered urgently in the other double black's ear. "Help's on the way… and besides, Wolf wouldn't want you to die for his sake like this. They won't kill him."

"How can you be so sure?"

Murata's eyes were like black ice. "Because if they do, I will kill them. Every single one of them. I'll completely annihilate the human race in one stroke."

Devon started at the tone. "No, they're… ah… they're more useful as bargaining tools!" he said suddenly. "The lords won't hand over the demon kingdom in exchange for a mere prince's life. The only thing to do is to take all three of them."

"But…"

The former cadet put his hands on his hips. "I know the way this kingdom works! They won't agree—they only see Prince Wolfram as one product of the queen's many, many affairs. There's no point. We need the king and the Great Sage."

Later Murata was grateful that Devon had spoken up. If not, he would have gone mad—absolutely mad—wondering what they had done to Wolfram. If not, he and Yuuri could be dead; and likely he would also have wiped out the humans, as he had told Yuuri.

Yuuri held out his wrists willingly. "Here."

"Shibuya…?"

"If they're taking Wolfram… I'm going along too."

* * *

_Fools, the both of them,_ Wolfram thought after Yuuri had finished recounting what had happened. He couldn't help crying, and the tears flowed freely down his face. Not that he had much of a choice—his hands were bound, and he couldn't wipe them away. He still felt nauseous. Instinctively he knew that his ropes were studded with esoteric stones, and it was a miracle that he was still conscious. So, too, was his prison; it was made out of esoteric stone. They must have spent a fortune on this endeavor, to be able to afford so much of the precious, dreaded jewel.

"Ah… Wolf?"

"Don't. Talk. To. Me. Right. Now."

"But… are you mad?"

"Head. Hurts." He rocked back and forth in the fetal position, wondering how long he could stay sane under these conditions. "Yuuri. You. Idiot."

"Idiot?"

His emotions overcame his pounding migraine. "Yes! An idiot! How could you just chase after me like that? You could have gotten rid of them… and a fire? You could have put out a fire, no problem. Why? Why did you have to listen to them?" He looked accusingly at the other man through the bars of their cages. "All my soldiers…" His stomach twisted.

"_You're_the one being an idiot, Wolfram!" Yuuri countered. "Did you really think that I would just leave you to die like that?"

"Yes, you could have. For Conrart, Gwendal, Günter. For Greta, Anissina, mother… for Andrew and Bernard and Sylva, for Kier and Leopold, for Johann and Lander, Japes and Colville… for yourself, you fool! For the Great Sage..."

Yuuri heard the prince sniffling even though Wolfram turned his back to him. "Wolf… ah, no, I'm sorry! But… if you were in my place… I think that you would have done the same thing."

Wolfram wiped at his eyes. "Shut up! If it was one of my men, in my place, I would have known that they wouldn't want me to sacrifice the kingdom just for their sake."

"Wolf, what if the person whom you loved most was in that position?"

He closed his eyes, picturing it. Would it be Yuuri… or Murata? All he could see was a blur of dark hair. He couldn't see the face clearly. But he knew—he knew with all his heart—that he would readily have given up the whole world just to save that one person. Still, he refused to admit it to the king. "It doesn't matter, Yuuri! I… am not the one whom you love the most."

"You… are."

The prince's eyes snapped open. "What?"

"I'm sorry… I just… when I saw you lying there I realized that I would have given anything—given anyone—just to have you safe… and I thought, would I react this way if it was someone else? Would I want to destroy all of them without even thinking before I act? And I… I came to understand… that I…"

"YOUR TIMING _SUCKS_!"

Yuuri flinched at the vehement tone. "I know, I know…"

"You wimp." Wolfram was crying harder now. "I thought… oh, Shinou. I thought that I should just give up on you. Stupid, stupid… wimp…"

"Wolfram, love…"

He even used the same pet name that Murata had given him. "Where… where's the Great Sage?" he asked abruptly.

"He… ah… I don't know." Yuuri squinted. "I assume that he's here somewhere…"

"You assumed?"

"I don't understand why they would separate him from us… or anything like that… but that's just the way that it goes… something that Devon said to the men…that he wanted to talk to Murata…" Yuuri eyed him anxiously as he finished his broken sentence. "Wolfram, what's wrong…? I thought… that, you know… you'd be happy. You know, even though I only realized it now. _Are_you happy?"

"I am," Wolfram said miserably. "So happy that I want to cry."

"How are you feeling, Great Sage?"

Murata had the cheek to reply, "Just fine, thanks." He raised his chin at Devon. "So, cadet. Fancy meeting you here." In some human hideout, but he didn't know exactly where. They had knocked both him and Yuuri out cold on the way here, and it was highly unlikely that Wolfram had gained consciousness on the trip.

"I… I apologize." Devon sat down near the bars. He seemed to be ill at ease with the esoteric stones as well, but he managed tolerably.

"How come you don't react the way Wolfram does?" Murata questioned.

"I'm a half-human."

"Ah… yes, that would explain it, wouldn't it?" Murata shrugged. "I hope you're treating Wolfram better than me." He gestured at the cage with a vague smile.

"Worse."

"Is that so?"

"Yes… esoteric stones in the ropes and bars. We couldn't take any chances. The same went for the king, but I don't know how much that'll affect him."

"Devon, why are you telling me all this?"

The soldier took a breath. "I didn't mean for it to come to this. I suppose that I got fond of you and of Prince Wolfram during my stay at the castle—definitely a side-effect that we didn't foresee," he said grimly. "Although I'm glad to say that my burning hatred for the king hasn't changed a bit."

"Why? I thought that Yuuri treated you with the utmost kindness, just like all the other cadets…" Then Murata paused. Oh yes, Yuuri was insanely jealous of Devon. Whoops.

Devon smirked. "He didn't tell me outright that he disliked me," he said, as though reading Murata's mind. "Although you could feel it sometimes, whenever I talked of Lord von Bielefeld. Quite amusing, in fact—I picked up on that fact immediately and used it to my advantage. He never liked me, when I acted as though there was something _more_between me and Lord von Bielefeld. Foolish, though. As though the prince would ever deign to look at someone like me with anything more than a slightly patronizing comradeship." He rested his chin in his hand. "He always treated Prince Wolfram like dirt, didn't he?"

Murata's lazy smile fell. "Your statements are baseless."

"Oh, but so true! I watched—I saw more than the average soldier did, that was for sure… you even borrowed clothes from me for Prince Wolfram and I knew that you loved him. You did, didn't you?" he snickered. "The two of you were fooling around behind the king's back." The Great Sage didn't reply, merely stared coldly at him. Devon went on. "I understood, though. We all pretty much fell for Lord Wolfram… who wouldn't? Only the king was too much of a dunce to see how special and lucky he was."

"I would rather be alone, thank you, than listen to these… these lies," Murata said.

"You have no right to object. You're a prisoner, after all." Devon attempted to draw himself up haughtily. But there was something like discomfort lurking in his eyes. "Now what will you do, with Prince Wolfram locked up with His Majesty? Suppose that Prince Wolfram decides that you are not…?" He let out a yell as he was knocked back by the sudden blast of power that sent him flying into the wall.

"Fool, do you know what you are talking about? You know nothing," Murata said. "Leave."

Devon wiped away the trickle of blood at the side of his mouth. "Impressive… I see that you aren't the Great Sage for nothing…" He laughed quietly. "To use your powers even within this cage of esoteric stone…"

"Don't underestimate me."

"I don't. I'm merely curious, Great Sage… why is that you're so loyal to the demon king, even with all this? It's pointless. The demon lords would acknowledge you as king if ever His Majesty happened to die anyway. Or if not, you would at least be regent or adviser while someone like Lord Von Voltaire takes the throne. And they wouldn't object to you marrying Prince Wolfram."

"But I would." Murata's laugh was low and bitter. "Yes, I would object a great deal—_Wolfram_would object a great deal. I'm not like you, Devon. I would never bind Wolfram to me that way, because I would lose him completely. Don't think that Wolf wouldn't know who did it—he would. But you don't care whether he knows or not, do you? I suppose that you didn't anticipate…"

"What… what do you mean?"

"It's fairly simple to guess what you have in mind. At first, I suppose that it was your friendship with the humans that convinced you to do this. Next, they probably fed you some cock-and-bull story about making you a lord—or perhaps higher? They might even have told you that you could be king, although I doubt it. And I'm sure that you recently asked them whether you could have Wolfram—and that you never foresaw the possibility of falling in love with a demon before." Unnerved, Devon took a step back. "I'm telling you now—give up, Devon."

"I…"

"You fell in love with Wolfram? You're right in one thing: a great many of us have. But ask yourself whether he would love someone like _you_, a turncoat to almost everything that he stands for. Love. Trust. Loyalty. If you don't have that, you'll never have him. You're sickening. To him, you're only filthy human scum—no, even worse, because Greta's a human and yet he still loves her; to him, you're the lowest of the low. A traitor." He smirked. "Now… GET OUT."

Devon fled the room immediately, not caring whether Murata had the right to order him around or not.

* * *

"Wolf?"

"I'm trying to sleep." Anything to take his mind off the ache in his head.

Yuuri looked at him with concern. "You don't look too good."

"Because I don't FEEL too good, damn it. Do you expect me to look my best after being manhandled, tied up and imprisoned?" Wolfram rolled his eyes. "Look, wimp, if you don't want me to snap at you, I advise that you turn around and start talking to the walls instead."

The king felt a surge of despair well up in him. "Oh, Wolfram… what are we going to do?"

Wolfram raised his head slowly, painfully. "I'm sure that Gwendal and the others are searching for us even as we speak. We'll pull through somehow until then." _I only hope that they get here before it's too late. _"Besides, we're all their 'bargaining tools', remember? They won't hurt us, and they'll probably try to contact Gwendal to trade us off for something. I hope that Conrart doesn't persuade him into some foolish agreement, though."

"Ah… yeah."

"Well, you're the king. Couldn't you do something to maybe get us out?"

Yuuri raised an eyebrow. "Just because I'm the king doesn't mean that I can 'get us out'. Even if I tried to use my magic, there's Murata to reckon with. We still don't know where he is. I'm afraid my other half might hurt him by accident."

Instinctively, Wolfram knew that Murata would be fine. There was an almost zero percent chance of him getting killed, if ever anything happened.

Sure, there was the whole injury factor to take into consideration, but the probability of it being fatal? Practically negligible—he could get hurt, but it wouldn't totally incapacitate him. But he couldn't bring himself to say so. "Then we'll just have to wait."_Because I don't want to see a single hair on his head get harmed, even if it won't make him die—even if it's our only chance._

"Are you mad at me or something?"

"No, of course not." Wolfram managed to sit up, slumping slightly. "I'm just a little… I'm trying to think things over." He sighed, staring at Yuuri's face through the bars that held him. "And I feel like hell."

"I wish I could get out of this," Yuuri said. Wolfram looked at the ropes that bound the king and saw that they were dotted with esoteric stones too, but it seemed to have little effect on him, and he envied him.

"Then use your big, scary demon king powers and bust out. After that, you can switch back to normal Yuuri."

"I might not be able to switch back."

"Then, as I already said, we wait." Wolfram leg accidentally brushed against one of the bars and he instantly recoiled. "Yuuri, please,_please_don't talk to me right now, or I'm going to be sick."

"Gee, Wolf… you look so miserable…"

"BECAUSE I _AM_MISERABLE!"

"I wish that I could set you free. I was furious with them when I saw them touching you…" His voice had turned low, cold. "I wanted to kill them, every single one of them… I wanted to deliver justice…"

Wolfram shot him a pained glance. "No, Yuuri, don't turn into the king! Stop thinking about those things. I'm sure that Conrart and Gwendal will come soon." He sighed. "If they don't, I'll stop feeling the pain pretty soon anyway."

"What? Really?"

The prince gave him a sickly smile. "Yeah, really. So don't worry too much about it, okay? I'm going to sleep."

"But… I've never heard of a demon eventually becoming accustomed to esoteric stones…"

Wolfram sighed. "The cases where a demon is under prolonged exposure to esoteric stones is rare anyway—and I've never heard of one actually being _bound_with esoteric stones. However, based on the information that I've gotten from reading some obscure history books, I think I have a pretty good idea of what's going to happen." He shrugged. "Murata reads in the library a lot, and he used to ask me to accompany him. That way I learned lots of stuff that I never quite knew before."

"And you'll really stop feeling the effects of the esoteric stones?"

"Yes, I'm fairly sure. Don't worry about it, Yuuri."

"Promise, Wolf?"

"It'll all be gone in a few days." He paused. "Hey, Yuuri?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, wimp." Why did he sound so sad when he said it?

* * *

"Greta said that they passed by the woods, but they didn't see either her or Anissina, thank Shinou," Gwendal said, digging his heels into the sides of his horse so that it would go faster. "She had a hard time controlling Anissina to make her stay put. I'm glad that she did, though—otherwise it could have been a great deal more problematic. At least Anissina realized that she would endanger the both of them if she tried anything."

"Heading off somewhere to the north. That'll be hard… they went off into the mountainous regions," Conrart said. "It'll be difficult to track them. And as it is…" He examined the grass. "They're good. Not too good—you can see where they made some marks—but all the same, it'll be very difficult."

Günter was looking uncharacteristically serious. "I think that there's an even more pressing problem, though."

Jossak frowned. "What, you mean even more important than the king, the king's fiancé, and the Great Sage all being kidnapped? Plus the fact that the castle was practically destroyed?"

The adviser flushed and glared at him. "Well, when you put it that way, of course not. But while you three were preparing the troops for the search, Greta mentioned something else to me."

"Well, get on with it. There's no point in dragging it out."

"She said that she noticed that the ropes that they were tied up in were glittering with tiny blue stones."

Conrart gave a little start of surprise. "Blue stones?"

Günter winced. "Yes. And what blue stone would they possibly use to bind three demons?"

The others took in a collective breath. "Esoteric stones?" Conrart said in horror.

"Unless they've started using sapphire ropes, there's really no other possibility, is there?" Jossak said dryly. "Well, I don't think that the Great Sage or the king will have a problem. But Little Lord Brat's another matter."

"Being tied up with esoteric stones… it's never been done before," Gwendal said, a deep line cutting between his brows. He remembered the pain of being trapped in a jail whose walls were covered with the esoteric stones. But to have them in direct contact to your skin… "We have to find him. _Now._"

Murata wondered how much time had passed since they had been brought here. He wasn't sure how long he had been out cold, and there were no windows in the chamber containing his tiny cage. He felt like an animal, longing to escape. Where were Yuuri and Wolfram? It wasn't fair that he was on his own, while the two of them at least got to be together.

In the room just beside the one where he was imprisoned, Wolfram felt as though he was slowly going mad. He made soft, whimpering sounds that nearly broke Yuuri's heart. He cried out for his mother and for Conrart. When he was younger, they were the two people he had run to when he had nightmares. And he was looking for their presence to soothe him and to tell him that it was all over. Shinou, he wished that it was all over.

And at times he wept out Murata's name, making broken, incoherent statements about the Great Sage that almost drove Yuuri crazy with anxiety.

"Wolf… I'm getting really, really worried. You're not looking any better at all," Yuuri said.

"I… fine…" Wolfram managed to choke out through panting breaths, tears forming in his eyes from the effort, turning lucid once more. "No… worry… Yuuri…"

"How can I _not_worry?" he cried out. "I can't stand seeing you like this!"

Wolfram held up a hand to signal him to be quiet. "It's… only… been… half a day, I think… so… it's… nothing… I don't… I'm fine…"

"Good evening," Devon said, entering the room. He was carrying a tray loaded with food. "I thought that the two of you might be hungry." He glanced at Wolfram and paled, but he merely busied himself with their meal. He held out a bowl of some poor stew for Yuuri. "Your Majesty," he said, his voice laden with venom as he said the title.

Yuuri wanted to turn it away, but his stomach grumbled and he hesitantly accepted it.

"It's not poisoned," Devon added contemptuously. "If we wanted to kill you, a sword would have been neater work—cheaper, too."

"Maybe you wouldn't be worrying about your budget so much if you didn't waste all your money on buying esoteric stones," Yuuri said.

"But if we did that, then we wouldn't have any prisoners in the first place, would we?" Devon returned. "I'm not saying that I wanted this to happen to Prince Wolfram…" He looked genuinely troubled as he set the food down beside the blonde demon.

"Can't… eat…" Wolfram muttered, shrinking away from the smell. "Give… my share… to Yuuri…"

"You'll die if you don't eat!" Devon said. He seemed to be debating something with himself. "Oh… oh Shinou… I wish I could…" He stopped, shaking his head. "I'm sorry. I can't do anything for you."

Yuuri pounded on the bars of his cage. "Yes, you can! You have a choice!"

"_No, I DON'T!_" Devon glared at him.

"Yuuri… stop it…" Another time, he might have been the one yelling at Devon. But now, he was just weary and sick of it all. "Please."

"Wolf…"

Devon ducked his head. "I really am sorry, you know," he said softly.

Wolfram raised his head. "Where… Murata?"

The former cadet flinched as thought the word was a blow. "He's fine. I made sure of that."

"Please… let us all… just stay… together…" The prince had been reduced to begging. Once you were ill enough to refuse food, it seemed that you were ill enough to plead—pride just didn't seem as important when he was caught in such pain. "Please?"

"I can't do that either. If he were here, he might devise some plan for the three of you to escape." Devon sat down. "We _can_let you go free, though. But there are a number of conditions."

Yuuri looked warily at him. "What kind of conditions?"

* * *

A/N: Cliffhanger again! Thanks for reading this far. Sorry if it was really rushed. I'd still like to get your feedback on this, though. As always: more reviews, faster updates. Of late the reviews for Broken Trinity has been decreasing, so I hope that it'll get back up to it's normal number. Thanks again! 


	8. In Demon Dreams, a King Descends

A/N: Hello all! I've been stuck in a place without Internet for a few days... so I didn't get to work on this. Also tons of work on our campus paper. So... sorry, sorry, this was later than I intended. But it's partly because I'm trying to revise it for a better ending.

So... I'm finally explaining the Shinou x Murata side of this story! Hooray! It's long overdue. I've been dying to write about it for a while. Like I've already said, I haven't watched the anime in full, which is why it may not exactly match the original plot.

But in any case, thank you to everyone who reviewed! This chapter is for starlight2005, whose birthday is coming up. I'll try to update in time for her birthday! But this author's note is dragging on (as usual, since I love to chatter), so without futher ado, I present to you all Chapter Seven.

* * *

Chapter Seven: In Demon Dreams, on the Earthly Plane, a King Descends

"We aren't really asking for all that much, considering that we have you completely in our power. In fact, we're being a little too reasonable, according to my companions. But never mind," Devon said. "The first condition is that the Demon Kingdom is surrendered to us."

"Never!"

"Can you really keep protesting that way even in the face of Lord von Bielefeld's agony?"

Wolfram glared at him. Even when he was incapacitated, he had quite the scowl. "Don't you dare drag me into this!" he hissed, suddenly gaining new energy. "Don't worry, Yuuri, I'm just fine!"

But Yuuri only flinched and paled. "What other conditions?"

"The second is that you and the Great Sage will return to your world, swearing a vow on Shinou's temple that neither of you will come back. As your Great Sage ought to know, if a vow on Shinou's temple is broken, that person will bring great calamity to those who are closest to them."

"What? No!" Wolfram said, sudden horror compounding his migraine. "You can't leave!" By now, he had realized that he couldn't live a life without Yuuri or Murata. "I… I'll follow…"

"No, you can't," Devon said, his cheeks suddenly coloring a brilliant fuchsia.

"Why not?"

"The last condition is that you remain here and marry me."

"NO WAY!" Yuuri yelled.

Wolfram's face flushed. "I would rather die!"

"Prince Wolfram, think about how beneficial it would be. We want to rule the Demon Kingdom, but even we realize that the people would not wholly accept us. Therefore what would be more natural than to have you as consort? That way you could represent the interests of your people."

"Idiot!"

"And I have to admit that you're extremely attractive," he said, looking away.

Yuuri stepped in. "Get out."

Devon raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think that you can eat with your hands tied behind your back?"

"I'd rather try than listen to you prattle on for another moment."

The former cadet sighed. "I was hoping to loosen your ropes for now, but it seems that you don't want me to…"

Yuuri's eyes widened. "Our ropes?"

"Yes, yours and Prince Wolfram's. But it seems that you don't want me to, so…"

Wolfram held out his hands. "Cadet…"

"It's just Devon, Prince Wolfram. I'm not your cadet anymore." He carefully attached another rope to Wolfram's upper arm and then knotted it around the bars, and then untied the ones around his wrist. "That should hold you."

Wolfram's eyes were swimming with tears by the time Devon had finished this process. He had to move closer to the bars, and it was agony, not to mention the new rope around his elbow. He was only glad that the cloth of his jacket protected him to some extent. And at any rate, it was much better than feeling those awful stones digging into his skin.

"Wolfram!" Yuuri said in horror, staring at the marks on Wolfram's delicate wrists. It was as though they had been burned and cut to the bone. Wolfram just shuddered and pulled his sleeves lower down to hide them.

"Let me heal them," Yuuri said, straining to reach through the bars to Wolfram, the tips of his fingers just barely brushing against Wolfram's cage.

"Please don't make me have to move you into another room," Devon advised him, pulling his arm back. "You're not allowed to do that."

"I would actually prefer it if you were elsewhere, Yuuri," Wolfram said, gulping down his nausea at the stew's savory aroma. Yuuri and Devon were both right, much as he hated to admit it; he had to eat.

Devon raised an eyebrow. "Well, that could be arranged," he said, a hopeful note evident in his voice.

"No way," Yuuri said, folding his arm across his chest and glaring at him.

"Would you two stop fighting already?" Wolfram asked them, irate. "The only reason I suggested it was because I don't want you to see me looking this way."

Yuuri frowned. "But I'd worry about you all the same, whether I was here with you or not."

"And because it's obviously a ploy on their part; if you see me in this condition, there's a bigger chance that you'll agree to their terms."

Devon shrugged. "Hey, whatever works, right?"

"That's foul play," Yuuri complained.

"All's fair in love and war. And this definitely falls into either of the two categories."

Wolfram just turned away, leaving them bickering with each other. He took an experimental taste of the stew and felt his stomach turn. It was good, but he was in no condition to eat. Quickly he covered his mouth.

"Wolf?" Yuuri asked, concerned.

Devon held a glass of water to his lips through the bars, although he almost jerked his hand away when his skin touched the cage. He took a deep breath, reminding himself that he was human, not demon. "Here."

Even like this, Wolfram felt a slight rush of gratitude. Devon could easily have treated him poorly, had he chosen to—instead, he was treating them reasonably well. Shinou knew that if Devon had been _his _prisoner, he would have chosen a thwack on the head and the traditional thumbscrews.

"Thank you," he mumbled as he took a tentative sip, followed by another and another. After a while, his stomach seemed to settle and he heaved a sigh.

"Can you eat now?" Devon asked him solicitously.

"I think so." He took a tiny bite of the stew and managed to swallow it.

"I'll leave your food here for now. I'll return in half an hour to retrieve the plates and things." Devon glanced at Yuuri. "Think over the terms well, demon king. They could spell life or death for Lord von Bielefeld."

* * *

The former cadet entered the room with a weary sigh. He flinched at the hand that grabbed his shoulder. "Devon? So what happened?"

"Oh, Dylan," he said, dropping his head. "It's… I don't know what's going to happen. Lord von Bielefeld can be very stubborn at times, and he's not about to let the king agree. Still, I'm sure that the king will give in soon. Lord von Bielefeld has his limits. The esoteric stones made sure of that. King Yuuri will have to give us his agreement at some point."

"Get it _soon_," the man emphasized, towering over him. "Slit that pretty little blond's throat if you have to."

"We can't do that!"

"And why not? I don't mean do it now. I said 'if you have to'. Only as a last resort. Or are you averse to the thought?"

Devon shrank away from him. "I know, I know," he whispered, looking away. "Whatever it takes."

"Now isn't the time to be soft," Dylan reminded the half-human. "We're so close to reaching our goal. You could be king. We've been working for years to defeat the demon kingdom, and this is the nearest we've ever gotten."

"You don't have to keep reminding me. I'm already well aware of all those facts," Devon said.

"Then why are you still hesitating?" the human boomed out, loud enough for everyone else to hear.

One of the others, a dark-haired man younger than most, sidled over to their side. "It's okay, Devon," he said. He looked sharply at Dylan. "Don't pester him so much. Devon has a lot on his shoulders right now, and you don't have to add to all that."

"Thanks, Alain," Devon mumbled, looking down at his feet. It was so much easier to bluster about defeating the demons when he was in front of Wolfram or Yuuri. Alone, or in the face of his companions, he found it much, much more difficult not to doubt himself. Alain was the dangerous one. He could make anyone do anything, without them even knowing. "I just—"

"You simply don't want to kill anyone. Well, that's reasonable," he said. "Blood is to be avoided at all costs, whether demon or human." He ignored the glares and surprised looks sent his way. Alain was a leader in his own right, and no one questioned him—or not often, anyway (more to the point, those who did never ended up well). "And we'll try not to shed any. But Dylan does have his own point… we _must _not fail. And to be sure, they'll be searching for us now that we have their king, Great Sage and prince."

"I'm sorry, Alain," Devon said. He sighed, then squared his shoulders. "I'm prepared to do what you ask of me. Whatever it may be."

The human wasn't to be put off. His eyes were penetrating, peering into Devon's. "Do you still doubt?"

He did. But he wasn't about to say anything. "Of course not." _But Prince Wolfram could die. But I don't want to betray the Great Sage. _

"Blood will tell, Devon. Just ask yourself which blood you're going to be loyal to." Alain patted him on the shoulder. "You've done very well so far. Infiltrating the castle—only you would have managed that. And your stroke of brilliance in getting the king and Great Sage to come along will make things much, much easier. I'm impressed that you thought of separating the Great Sage from them. You were right; it'll make their escape virtually impossible. As long as they don't know where the other is."

Devon smiled. "But of course we had to keep the king with Prince Wolfram. So that he could see…" he trailed off, the smile dropping from his face.

"So that he could see what was happening to his beloved fiancé," Alain finished. "The ends will justify the means, Devon. We're fighting for what's right. Don't forget that. All we want is for him to agree and swear on Shinou's temple. That isn't so much to ask, now is it? Considering all the injustices humans have suffered at the hands of the Demon Tribe?"

"No, of course not," said Devon. He wondered whether his mother, whom he was told had been a demon, would have agreed about that. Or whether his father, the human, would have asked him to turn his back on his mother's side of his blood. From the precious little that he remembered and had been told, his father had loved his mother deeply—demon or not.

"Go. They should be done eating by now."

Devon wished he'd never left Yuuri and Wolfram—or at the very least, that he hadn't bothered going back to his comrades. He shook his head quickly to clear it of such thoughts.

It was okay that he doubted. But once he started willing himself away from his friends, everything would fall apart.

* * *

From somewhere there were eyes watching them. It was not from above, below, or from the side; it was from everywhere, from inside and outside, both down and up, left and right.

And in the center of it all was Shinou, weary of his little priestess's appeals for help and tired of watching impassively. He had changed certain events. Some he had influenced without conscious knowledge of it, he was sure. And he was just one deity of many, but his words carried a lot of weight.

"How I hate you, dear Great Sage," he murmured, looking down on his former lover. Beautiful as ever, somehow more innocent in his current form, with that adolescent body. He admired his loveliness—he had always loved beauty—but he couldn't control the spasm of loathing in his heart.

"Great Shinou, please hear our pleas," Ulrike whispered reverently, raising her hands in a gesture of supplication.

He frowned. He was sick of her continuous nagging. Instead, he turned his back on her, aware that the little priestess would be alarmed by his silence. Normally he wasn't all that vindictive—he even took some of his duties seriously—but this time he simply refused to let her bother him.

It was about Murata, after all, and he hadn't forgotten the Great Sage. Ever. He was the perpetual fly in his ointment, the one sour note in his position as a demigod. His presence on the mortal plane served as a reproach to his eternal life. He looked down at the double black with contempt. There was a time once, when he had urged Murata to come with him, to take flight towards the heavens and welcome death so that they might grasp power in their hands as they had been promised—but Murata had refused point-blank.

"Go if you wish," he had said. "But I'm afraid that I have duties here. And if you took the time to think about it, you would realize that it would be better if you gave up your aspirations for immortality as well." He looked penetratingly at him. "You know that for everything you gain, something must be given up."

"I know that," he had replied excitedly. "But I don't care! I'm on the brink of it, I'm sure. I have spoken to sources in my dreams, of a power that you could never dream of—"

"Power," Murata had said, shaking his head. "You always lusted after it. It always came before anything else. Even before our relationship."

"I'm ambitious," Shinou had conceded. "But so what?"

A week later, he had come to the Great Sage with clouded eyes and a furrowed brow. "I have spoken to the gods. They have named the price."

The Great Sage had looked steadily at him. "And?"

"They want my heart." He had smiled painfully. "I have already agreed to give it to them. I will be dying soon. And I won't love you." His shrug was careless. "I won't love anyone. I won't care for anything but my fancies. No conscience, no restraint. This is the only path I can take."

"What use is that power, if you can't use it for something that you love?" Murata had cried out.

"I can't give it up," Shinou had whispered. "I have been offered a chance many would dream of."

Murata's eyes had flashed with anger. "I, too, have spoken to the gods. They asked me whether I wanted to be one of them."

Shinou lit up. "Then come—please—it would be so much better with you!"

"I am not as selfish as that," Murata had said sharply. "I would never give up my heart. I refuse to exchange it for empty power—power for what? To be worshipped in temples and have my statue garlanded with flowers? No. Never. If I had no heart, I would have nothing to use that power for." He had looked sadly at Shinou. "I only pray that you won't come to regret your decision."

"I don't, and I… I never will," Shinou had said defiantly. "So when you die, your body will rot and crumble into ashes like all the rest, your soul will be recycled into some other form, some other body—"

"I have spoken to _one_god, and he has taken a fancy to me," Murata had said quietly. "He bestowed a half-blessing, half-curse. I will be reincarnated forever, and my soul will retain all its memories. In exchange for that, I must give up my one chance at happiness."

"Your one chance at happiness?"

"Yes. At love."

"You mean… me?"

Murata had laughed hollowly. "No, not you. You're not mine, so how could I give you up? No, in some far-off future… perhaps never. He didn't specify." He shrugged. "Someone has to stay on the mortal plane to balance out a heartless demigod."

"What good is having your heart if it's only going to be broken?" he had demanded.

The Great Sage had smiled. "I don't care. At least I'll love. At least I'll have something to care for. And I know—even if he doesn't love me—I'll do everything in my power to make him happy."

Shinou had never forgiven him for that, nor for falling in love with that disgusting look-alike of his. Wolfram von Bielefeld was nothing special. He had glanced on his descendant on occasion and noted that he was pretty, but nothing much to speak of. How the prince had managed to wholly capture Murata's attention was beyond his comprehension.

"Please, Shinou, forgive us for whatever wrong we have done to you," Ulrike begged. "Hear us, oh Original King. The Great Sage is in grave danger as well. In the name of the love that the two of you once held—"

His heart might have been gone, but he could still feel certain emotions. Rage was one of them. "All right already!" he yelled out exasperatedly, although what Ulrike heard was something more along the lines of, "I hear your prayers, little priestess."

He glared at the temple, and then down at his former lover. There were times when he wished… no. "I still don't regret it," he said stubbornly. "I told you that I wouldn't."

* * *

He was dreaming again. Normally he had weird dreams that he forgot in the mornings when he had woken up. Sometimes he deigned to have prophetic dreams. This time he was talking to Shinou. It was strange to look into the man who wore Wolfram's face and feel, instead of love, bitter resentment.

"I'm _really_hating you right now, you know?" he asked the golden-haired man from inside the cage. Shinou watched him with candid interest, but made no move to help him get out. "You've got a really warped sense of humor."

"Murata, you know as well as I do that eventually your little pet wolf will end up in the arms of the demon king," Shinou said.

"Not if you didn't want him to," Murata said desperately. "If you wanted to, then he and I could live happily together."

"And what of your bargain with the gods long ago?"

"Bargains can easily be changed," Murata said. "I could ask him… ask him to trade this one wild chance at happiness… for anything else. He may take anything else from me. Just not Wolfram."

Shinou just shrugged as though it didn't matter to him one way or another. "If you really wanted to, you could just break out of here with your powers."

"On the other hand, if I did that, they would likely kill Wolfram and Yuuri before I managed to rescue them," Murata said. "I know I'm good, but I'm not exactly all-powerful, am I?"

"We're nearing the conclusion of this little saga. I weary of watching you three and I've decided that it should come to an end soon."

The Great Sage looked at him. "And what will the result be?"

"I haven't decided yet," Shinou said nonchalantly. "There are so many options. Firstly, there's a farfetched one where you escape and eventually end up with your pet wolf, the two of you fleeing this world and leading a simple life by yourselves on earth. That would be fascinating, wouldn't it? But it would bring ruin to the demon kingdom—in the end, King Shibuya Yuuri would become a weak king, without the love of my fiery look-alike to drive him, and make poor decisions, eventually only relying on bad advice. He would be abandoned by many of his men. Conrart Weller and Gwendal Von Voltaire would both die, while Günter von Krist will go mad. Yuuri would be deposed eventually, and then civil war would begin. You would be happy for a while, but what skills could Wolfram apply to a life on earth? He's only ever been raised as a nobleman and a swordsman, and they're not exactly in high demand there. The only solace he has is in painting, and he eventually tires of that as well. And just as he loves you, he'll come to hate you. Love and hate are but twins, after all."

Murata clenched his fists. "That's not the only possible ending if Wolfram and I ended up together."

"Yes, but it's the most rational one," Shinou said in a pleasant tone. "The facts agree with the flow of events, if that ever happened. And then there is one where Yuuri signs a contract being offered by the humans now. The demon kingdom will be surrendered to the humans; you and Yuuri will have return to your world, and Wolfram will be queen, with Devon as king. Wolfram eventually commits suicide on the first anniversary of the day he confessed his love for you, unable to deal with losing both you and Yuuri on top of being forced to marry the traitor who caused all his problems. I suppose he tired of being that Devon's toy, a mere puppet to dress up and sleep with, to mouth words that were put into his mouth." His laugh had a bitter edge to it. "Most fitting."

"Damn you!"

"I forgive you for your insolence now, but be warned that I will not accept it a second time," Shinou said, eyes flashing. "We're long past the days when you could say or call me anything. You're just another mortal now." Murata glared but said nothing. "Of course, the most likely conclusion is that Wolfram will die here. I think that that is what will happen in the end. That way, neither you nor the king will be affected."

Murata went cold. "Dying? No, no! He can't die! Why did you grant me those last few days together with him if you only meant to snatch him away?"

"It was a whim of mine." Shinou sighed. "And because yours is a beautiful love, even if it is so very doomed."

His face was livid. "If you think that neither I nor Yuuri will be affected, you're wrong! If Wolfram dies, so will I! Don't you understand?"

"Defiant as always…"

The Great Sage shook his head. "Show him to me. I want to see him." He raised his eyes to look at him. "Please, Shinou. For my sake."

"All right, all right," Shinou said, grumbling. "But only for now. And it won't change anything; you'll see him, but you won't be able to help him." A hint of sympathy showed in his eyes for the first time. "It might be kinder if I refused."

"You are kind only to be cruel."

"Yes, I suppose that's my nature," he agreed. Suddenly Murata found himself watching Wolfram, who was whimpering in his uneasy sleep. Yuuri had managed to doze off as well, and the demon prince was biting his lips to muffle the sound. Beads of sweat had broken out on his forehead, and his fingers were clawing at the ropes that once again bound his wrists.

"Murata…" Wolfram whispered. He seemed to be looking straight at him, and Murata wanted to rush at him. But Wolfram's emerald eyes slowly crumpled into hopelessness. "He's not there… I'm going mad…" the prince said softly, tears blurring his eyes. "I thought… Murata…"

He saw the burns and cuts on the fragile flesh and felt his heart drop to his knees as his sight gradually returned to normal and he was back inside his cage, staring at Shinou.

He swallowed hard. "You were right. It would have been kinder not to show me."

Shinou looked at him seriously. "This cannot end happily, Great Sage."

"It could!" Murata's eyes were wild. "It could, if you wanted it to! You need only say the word, and everything would be resolved."

"Do you expect me to do that?"

"If you ever loved me, Shinou, you would grant my wish."

"It is precisely because I loved you that I would keep things this way." Shinou sighed. "I loved you once. I don't know whether I'm capable of loving anymore." He paused. "I'm weary of this conversation."

"You're weary of everything," Murata said dully.

"That's true." He walked through the bars like a ghost and pressed a kiss to Murata's forehead. "Stay safe, Great Sage."

The light reflected off his glasses as he repeated his warning. "If he dies, so will I! Do you understand, Shinou?"

Shinou hesitated. "Do not make empty threats. You would only be reincarnated, again and again. You cannot escape this cycle."

"I cannot escape _you_." Murata's head rested against the bars. "I loved you once."

"Those days are long past, Great Sage." He placed a hand atop Murata's dark hair with some of the old affection that they had held for each other. "Sleep well, and let no nightmares disturb your rest tonight."

Murata passed the rest of the night in dreamless sleep.

* * *

"You!" Devon breathed uneasily.

"Me?"

The half-human's eyes were wide with terror and shock. "How did you get out of your cage?"

Shinou made a face. "I'm insulted. I'm nowhere near as scrawny as Wolfram." His eyes kindled with a strange light. "And there is no cage that can hold _me_. Not even like the one that holds Yuuri and Murata; even the cage of a heart means nothing to me." He grinned. "For I have no heart, and there is no one left whom I love. And by an oath to my temple one is bound forever."

Devon's horror only increased. "_Shinou!_"

"Good, you remember my name. But then again, who doesn't?"

"Don't kill me!" he pleaded.

Shinou burst out laughing. "You're entertaining. But luckily for you, I'm not here to kill you. All I want is to satisfy an impulse of mine. So—perhaps I will quote my young look-alike—'at ease, cadet'. His laughter was sardonic. "Pitiful half-human, rejected by one of your own bloodlines and used as a tool by another. Your life has been mostly unhappy. The only time you ever felt any true gladness was when Wolfram—that little Lord von Bielefeld—was with you, at your side, guiding you."

"And so I love him. That's the truth." Devon sounded bitter about it. "It isn't like I wanted it to happen. Are you here to taunt me for being the way I am? Or was that all some design on your part?"

"Partly. By it was mostly your doing, not mine. Even if I had not intervened, you would have fallen deeply in love with him, as did all of his soldiers. Although your love is not like theirs. Yours is darker, more powerful… you don't want to just be able to love him. You want to possess him."

Devon looked startled. "No, no, no!"

"Do not contradict me, half-blood. I see more than you do when it comes to the insidious side of love."

"He was the only one who ever—!"

"Your fellow cadets did too. But you're a perverse young man, as most young men are. They looked at you with some interest as well, you know. And I'm sure that you're aware that some of the soldiers there were romantically involved with each other. But no, you wanted Wolfram. You wanted the best. You wanted him because he was the only one who treated you with such affection, and yet you couldn't have him." He smirked. "And your intensity only increased when you saw that Yuuri professed to not loving him—and that he ran to Murata's arms, as though it doesn't matter who loves him. Poor Devon."

He blushed angrily. "Then what do you want?"

"As I said, I only wanted to watch and observe—it's just one of my fancies. I merely want to come to a resolution as to what will happen."

Devon raised his eyebrows. "I suppose you're going to help the demon king and Great Sage?"

"Perhaps." Shinou shrugged. "I could simply let things take their course, but I'm sure to influence them even if only unconsciously. Little half-blood, I'm unsure of what side to take in this fight. Both are captained by fools caught in some vixen's snare. And although men are apt to weaken in the face of beauty, this borders on madness. It's ridiculous to the extreme."

"Am I the first you spoke to tonight?"

"No."

Devon met his gaze steadily. "Then I'm sure that whether you have talked to Prince Wolfram or the Demon King or the Great Sage, you ought to know why and how we are all like this. Whether it has your hand in it or not, fate linked us all inextricably this way. And I don't know the conclusion—and if I guess right, neither do you. You haven't decided yet."

"You see things a little more clearly," Shinou noted. "Those with the blackest hearts are always the ones who can view things with an objective eye."

"Being black-hearted is just a weakness of human flesh."

"So you say. Then close your eyes, half-blood, and dwell upon the consequences of your actions."

And Devon passed the night tossing and turning, his mind filled with barren lands and blood flowing from a blonde demon's wrist.

* * *

"Demon King, you are pitiful."

Yuuri looked up, dazed, into the face of the original king. "Shinou," he said, inclining his head in acknowledgement. "I was asleep."

"You still are." Shinou inspected the cage. "Hmm. Just like the Great Sage's. And like him, you could easily escape from here if you chose to."

"You've seen Murata?"

"Yes, of course." Shinou smiled. "But then, this could all be a dream, and then perhaps your subconscious is tricking you."

The double black shook his head. "No, I'm sure that even if this is a dream, one doesn't dream of Shinou without reason."

Shinou grinned. "How clever of you." He idly wrapped a hand around one of the bars. "This sort of thing is child's play for your powers. Why don't you just escape?"

"Without Murata?" Yuuri scowled. "Never."

"But you would do well to act before it's too late, Yuuri. Murata can take care of himself. You know that it would take more than a motley band of humans to bring down the Great Sage. Or, at least, that was what I thought; but apparently just having the life of a single demon prince in danger is enough to bring him to his knees." He shrugged. "The Great Sage has gone soft. And _you_were soft from the beginning."

Yuuri's eyes went over to where Wolfram was sleeping. "Are you here to help us?"

"No, I merely come to observe. And to make conclusions about certain things." Shinou watched Wolfram with interest. "I must admit that he's good-looking—after all, he looks just like me—but why can he bring both the Demon King and the Great Sage to such great lengths? The only thing that sets him apart is his extraordinary face."

"That's not true," Yuuri argued. "He's got a lot of things going for him."

Shinou rolled his eyes. "If you say so. I must ask, though, Demon King—why don't you try to leave?"

"Because I can't."

"Oh, you can. That's a lie. And one ought not to lie to the original king."

Yuuri swallowed. "Because of Wolfram and Murata. I don't know where Murata is; he might get hurt if we try to escape. And I promised Wolfram that we wouldn't go without him."

"But what is the Great Sage? He is only a vessel for soul that will be reincarnated continuously. And it's highly unlikely that he will perish in your flight. Hurt, perhaps, but nothing too bad."

"You're too cold-hearted." Yuuri sighed. "And besides, I don't think that Wolfram's in any condition to…"

"Demon King, I confess that I'm disgusted by your sniveling. You and the Great Sage both. It grieves me to see the two of you reduced to such contemptible beings. I think that you would all be better off without Lord von Bielefeld."

"No. It's precisely _because_we need him so much that we have become, as you put it, 'contemptible'. But you're wrong to think that we're deplorable simply because of that. Haven't you ever been in love like me?"

"I have. I lost him." Shinou shrugged his shoulders. "First I lost him because he had duties and refused to leave with me. I would have given him all the worlds that he would have wanted, had he come with me."

"Maybe he didn't want to. Maybe because you didn't love him enough. If you had, then you would have stayed with him instead of running off, right?"

Shinou's face tightened into a grimace. "Perhaps—but if _he_had loved _me_, he would have come with me. He didn't. I lost my heart anyway, so it didn't matter. And then I lost him to someone who stole his heart and then kept breaking it. Over and over again." The original king's eyes darkened. "But I care not. I lost interest in him centuries ago."

"Then maybe _you're_the pathetic one."

His eyes flashed menacingly. "You and the Great Sage are both becoming increasingly forgetful of your place."

"If you can forget someone so easily, are you really in love?"

"Then it wasn't love. Perhaps love was just a better way to term our infatuation." Shinou smirked. "Is it possible to love two people at once?"

Yuuri raised an eyebrow. "Why, were you in love with two people at the same time?"

"No. I have someone else in mind."

"Then… yes," Yuuri said. "Yes, it's possible."

"It's possible to love someone else the way you love Wolfram?"

Yuuri paused. "Then no, not the exact same way."

"Then I feel sorry for you, Demon King." Shinou's smile was like the edge of a silver knife. "Because that which you think to be love is mere 'infatuation'."

The double black scowled. "What are you talking about?" Suddenly a terrible thought flashed through his mind. "Do you mean to say that Wolfram—"

Shinou merely smiled. "Have safe slumber, little king. Think on what I have said."

Yuuri passed the rest of the night dreaming of twin shadows and of his fiancé clasped in someone else's arms.

* * *

"And you are my last visit tonight, demon prince." Shinou smiled at the face looking up at him; it was like looking into a mirror, but Wolfram's face was twisted in pain from his bonds. "Good evening. Soon morning, I think. But no matter. Time has no dominion over me anymore."

Wolfram blinked at him. "Because you are dead."

"Yes."

A glimmer of hope shone behind his eyes. "Are you here to take me?"

Shinou let out an ironic laugh. "If you were going to die, do you really think that you were worthy of being fetched by the original king?"

"No, you're right." The blonde slumped into a sitting position—not really an easy feet, considering that his hands were tied firmly behind his back. "But what did you mean by 'you are my last visit tonight'? Have you been traveling in demon dreams?"

"Yes. Interesting. Infuriating, but interesting nonetheless."

"Have you been talking to Murata?"

"Perhaps."

Wolfram smiled. "Then you have."

Shinou looked startled. "What do you mean by that?"

"Ulrike and Murata's style. If they don't deny it outright, it's usually true."

"You have a lot of courage, little demon."

"It's difficult to be courteous when you want to dash your head against the floor. But forgive me, Shinou, I didn't mean to be disrespectful. I'm simply hurting a great deal right now."

"The pain will be over soon."

Wolfram shrugged. "I know." He looked questioningly up at the original king. "I suppose you heard what I said to Yuuri earlier?"

"But of course. Normally I don't pay all that much attention to you and your lot, but this was too interesting to be ignored. What happens here will greatly influence future events."

"I had to say something so that the wimp wouldn't worry. And if I'm correct, my suffering will end before long." He raised his face up to meet the king's gaze. "If this continues, I'll die. If I'm rescued, I'll be free from this. But what are the chances that we'll get away? It would be better if I perished here."

"Yes, it would be."

Wolfram sighed. "Shinou, you're all-knowing. Can you tell me what will happen?"

Shinou shook his head gravely. "_No one _is all-knowing. I can see many paths leading ahead—and oh yes, I influence them so that what I want to happen happens—but I'm still uncertain of the future. You're greatly mistaken, little demon."

"Let me die, since you have the power."

"Is the pain that bad?"

"It's worse." Wolfram took a long, shuddering breath. "But if it was just the pain, I would tolerate it somehow until I died naturally. But Shinou, at this rate… Yuuri can see me, he will be able to tell that I lied to him. He'll sign the contract, I'm sure of it. That wimp is so softhearted. He would never leave a friend to die, no matter who it was. But if I died before he could do it, he and Murata would get away somehow."

The original king looked away. "Don't talk like that."

"Like what?"

"As though they were the center of your universe. What about _your_life, demon prince? I thought that you had dreams of becoming a noble lord, a model gentleman. Have you given that up already?"

Wolfram shook his head. "Of course not. If I can, I would like to still become all that. But if it meant choosing between me and them…" He held up his mangled wrists. "Please kill me."

"Damn you for being so noble," Shinou said.

The prince stopped, bewildered. "What do you mean?"

"You're a liar," Shinou finally said. "You claim to love Yuuri, and you claim to love the Great Sage, but really, even Yuuri said that you can't love two people the same way."

"I don't love them exactly the same way. There's a difference," he replied. "But just because it's different doesn't mean that one is any less than the other. What I do know, though, is that I would do anything for the love that I have for both of them. The only thing that I would refuse to do is leave them when they were suffering—or give up my feelings for them."

He looked simply up at him, trying to see through the opaque mask of blankness and slight divide that had slipped over the original king's face. "Please, Shinou. I have been loyal to you since birth. I ask only that this all be over soon."

Shinou seemed to come to a decision. "It will come to a resolution before long." He sat down by Wolfram's side. "You really are an extraordinary creature, my beautiful twin. I think I see a little now why they love you so much." He let out a short laugh. "If I had a heart, I might even fall in love with you as well. But by watching Yuuri and Murata, I know that your love can be fatal."

"Then let it end, please."

"I will do all that I can." And coming from Shinou, that was a lot. He stooped down and took the young demon's hands. He ran a finger over the scars and marks, and Wolfram let out a hoarse cry before fainting into a limp heap. "It will be over soon. Until then, walk in the dreaming realm."

Shinou sighed. "Stupid little boy. What can I really do but watch and wait?" He glanced down at his beautiful descendant. "You're a sorry piece of trash, deluded little prince. But I can't help feeling sorry for you." He smiled. "Events have already been set in motion. I'm powerless to do anything now."

And Wolfram passed the rest of the night tangled in a web of black hair and dark eyes, dreaming of the ones he loved.

* * *

A/N: Ah... that was so random, but I couldn't resist working on the Shinou x Murata and dream angle. Apologies--another slapdash chapter. I really wish I could get someone to beta this for me, but then again, maybe it's better that I don't. I'd be way too embarrassed. Anyway, I'll try to update soon. Hopefully before the fourteenth, because we're leaving for some ridiculous science thingy. I don't understand why they chose me to represent anyway, since I suck at science. Anyway, as always, more reviews equal faster updates. Arigato for reading! 


	9. The Breaking of the Trinity

A/N: Okay, I know a lot of you will skip right to the story, but this is an explanation, and perhaps a very necessary one (well, _I _think it is). So bear with me a bit and sorry if it drags on.

Right. This is a RAW chapter. What do I mean? Before I started posting TBT at all, I did a quick outline of what I intended to say. The previous chapters were all thoroughly edited and changed before they made it here to ffnet.

This chapter was more than halfway through the clean-up process when, as I have already told some inquisitive reviewers, my hard drive got wiped out.

Everything was lost except for the rough outline which I had saved on a USB. The USB then proceeded to get lost for over a year before it was finally found by our maid.

I spent ANOTHER year doing academics and not having much time for fanfictions (especially since the prospect of having lost so much work and being forced to rewrite it made me positively sick with anger).

I got a severe wake-up call when someone pointed out that it'd been two years since I'd updated this story, and even then I kept putting it off hoping that my schedule would free up enough for me to do the work.

I've now realized that this is impossible. I just finished my first week of sophomore year and if the rest of the academic year is anything like this (probably worse, with my luck), I WON'T HAVE THE TIME FOR THIS UNTIL I GRADUATE. And the idea of me leaving readers hanging for another two, maybe three years, makes me ill.

I apologize for this. In my opinion, I sound like I'm making excuses, and I hate that fact. I decided on my own to post this in its natural state. That means it was written off the top of my head, with no polishing whatsoever. I figured that some will be happier with that than having to wait forever for a slightly better version. If you guys think otherwise, tell me and I'll remove this chapter and replace it later on with the better version stuck in my head, where the ending is actually completely different and most of the latter half of this chapter was lopped off and replaced.

At this point, I'd just like to thank you for reading this author's note this far (I wouldn't be surprised if you lost the patience or ignored it completely). I love all people who read my stories, and especially my wonderful, amazing reviewers.

I'll continue in the later A/N, so without further ado, the long overdue Chapter Eight.

* * *

Chapter Eight: The Breaking of the Trinity

"Good morning," Devon murmured as he entered the room, looking as though he had hardly slept. He noted that the Demon King was dozing fitfully, sometimes murmuring an occasional word with his face twisted, as though he was having nightmares. He wondered briefly whether Shinou had visited his dreams as well last night. "Wake up, I brought you two breakfast."

Yuuri sat up groggily. He felt as though he hadn't even closed his eyes last night. "Ah… man, it's hard to believe that we've only been here a couple of days or so…"

Devon shrugged. "If you want to shorten it, there's always the option of signing the contract."

The king glared at him. "In your dreams."

Dreams? Devon suppressed a shudder. Yuuri didn't miss the gesture and raised his eyebrows questioningly.

He just rolled his eyes. "If not for Prince Wolfram, I would probably starve you," he sniffed disdainfully as he slid a plate of bread and cheese through the bars. "But if I tried to serve only him and then left you to your own devices, Lord von Bielefeld would probably give you his food."

"I miss miso soup…"

"Whatever the hell _that _is," Devon said, bored and not really paying attention to him. He turned to Wolfram, giving him a casual glance before pouring out water for the two of them. "Lord von Bielefeld is still asleep?"

"Obviously."

"He looks a little better than before, though. He's sleeping a little more naturally now, I think."

Yuuri grinned. "Guess he's finally gotten accustomed to the esoteric stones. Just like he said. So that little plan of yours is a complete bust."

Devon turned to face him. "What do you mean?"

"Ah… demons get conditioned to gradually accept esoteric stones."

"Idiot, of course not. It would take millions of years of evolution and careful training for that to happen." Devon's brows furrowed as he watched the sleeping demon. "What… did… he… say?"

"That the pain would go away…"

Devon cut him off as he ran to Wolfram's side, hurriedly taking a key out of his pocket and unlocking the cage. "Damn it, no!" He tugged at the knots in frustration. "No, no, no! He can't die like this!"

"Die?" Yuuri nearly broke his neck by flinging himself to the bars to see. The demon prince looked as though he was simply sleeping, with his golden eyelashes making shadowy little semi-circles on his cheeks. "He's not dead! He's only sleeping!"

"He's… breathing… I think?" Devon, seeing that it would take too long to untie him properly, pulled out a knife and cut through the bonds. "Prince Wolfram… damn that Shinou! And you, if you had only signed the contract a little earlier—"

"He told me that he would be fine in a few days!" Yuuri said anxiously. "If he lives, oh God, I'll sign that contract, I'll sign anything. Just let… let him… why didn't you let me heal him when I still could?"

"I couldn't do anything!"

"YES YOU COULD HAVE!" Blue light was starting to form at Yuuri's fingertips. In a fury, he rounded on the other man. "You knew that he would die!"

Devon was white. "We knew that he could die from it, that's true. But… I didn't know that it would happen so soon… I thought that by then, you would have had the contract signed and we would all be all right…"

From the other cell Murata knew somehow when he opened his eyes from his peaceful slumber. He knew.

And that was when all mayhem broke loose.

* * *

"Looks like we arrived a little too late," Jossak said.

"A lot too late, if you ask me," Yuuri grumbled.

Conrart coughed significantly. "Your Majesty, the troops have been riding these past few days without any sleep. We only stopped to question people on the way so that we could find you." In fact, they had been combing the lower mountains for them. It was only when they had seen the explosion that they had rushed to the highest peak in the whole range—only to discover that the mountain had become a pile of rubble, while Murata held Wolfram in his arms, glaring at the bodies crushed under the stones. "The men did their best under the circumstances."

Yuuri winced. "Sorry." His eyes went towards Gwendal, who was instructing the troops now. With a gesture, Gwendal indicated that he would join them shortly as soon as he was finished.

"I'm still hazy about the details about what happened," Jossak complained. "Could you explain it?"

The explosion from the other room had startled both Yuuri and Devon as it blasted half the wall away. Inside came Murata, his eyes like twin black flames of hell.

"Wolfram," he said, his hands glimmering with magic.

Devon was white to the lips. "Great Sage—"

"You _dare _address me by my title? You _dare _to speak to me without my permission?"

Yuuri was too lost to react, and he felt the angry magic building up within him slowly dissipate in the face of his friend's wrath. Instead, he licked his dry lips and tried to speak. "Murata… Wolfram's…"

Murata let out a low cry of rage and grief as he looked down at the stricken demon, still beautiful, death already ghosting over his lips. "I know. I woke up and _I knew. _" He raised his face. "And I knew what I had to do."

"He isn't dead yet!" Devon said.

"_Silence_!"

Jossak looked impressed and amused. "That must have been a real sight to behold. He's usually so happy-passive that you can't picture him going berserk like that. Man, I wish I'd seen it."

Yuuri shook his head vehemently. "You _really _don't want to see Murata when he's mad—believe me."

"So what happened after that?" Günter asked.

"The gist of it is that he demolished the mountain. Nearly buried all of us there, if he hadn't had the foresight to shield the three of us." Yuuri sighed. "He just went berserk. Not that I blame him. At the time, I was ready to murder them myself."

"But Wolfram's alive, thank Shinou," Conrart murmured.

Murata had refused to let go of Wolfram even for Gisela, who had wanted to heal him. "I'll do it myself," was the Great Sage's grim comment. And who was a mere army doctor to contradict him? His abilities were far more developed than hers, in any case. They had been holed up for hours in one of the makeshift tents that Gwendal had ordered to be set up.

"Hey, he may be Little Lord Brat, but he's still _our _Little Lord Brat," Jossak agreed.

"I thought… that he was dead." Yuuri looked down at his lap. "He lied to me. He said that the pain was going to disappear."

"He was telling the truth," Günter said grimly. "In his own roundabout way."

"Do you think it would be safe to venture in there now?" Yuuri asked. "I wanted to go check up on Wolfram, but Murata's still in there, and I have no idea whether it's okay—I really don't want to get on his bad side, considering that he just leveled a mountain higher than Everest without even breaking a sweat."

"We're not sure whether Wolfram's all right yet. He might still be unconscious, Yuuri."

Gisela appeared at Günter's side just as Gwendal joined them. She looked down. "The Great Sage may not have seen fit to let me treat Lord von Bielefeld, but he did allow me to stay during the first hour or so. Lord Wolfram's injuries are extensive. I think that some of the esoteric stone entered his bloodstream." Her eyes were troubled. "He might die."

"Die?" Conrart echoed. "But…"

"He's too young," Gwendal murmured, his face pained. "He never even reached full maturity."

Gisela hid her face in her hands, trying to hide the tears that were coursing down her face. "I'm sorry. There isn't much that we can do. He was already on the verge of dying when he was brought here. I think that all we can do right now is to ease his passing."

"You're giving up right now?" Yuuri demanded.

"No!" Gisela said. "Don't think of it that way, Your Majesty. But in all honesty, I don't want to raise your hopes." She wiped at her face and looked him squarely in the eye. "Your Majesty…"

Conrart placed a hand on Yuuri's shoulder. His face was also contorted with pain and unspeakable sorrow. "Yuuri…"

But Yuuri just pushed him away. "I don't believe it!" he cried out as he tore off towards the tent.

* * *

"Wolfram, love… you've got to breathe," Murata whispered hoarsely in his ear, cradling the demon in his arms. "Breathe for me. Please." A halo of magic surrounded Wolfram, emanating from Murata as the Great Sage fed the prince his magic.

"Ah… Murata…" It was just a whisper, but it gave the Great Sage hope. "Ha… I hoped…" A dreamy smile spread over Wolfram's face, momentarily replacing the tormented visage that he had worn just moments ago. "I am glad… I'm dying… I asked him to grant me this wish…" He coughed, worn out from the effort of talking.

"Ssh… you'll only wear yourself out…" Murata stroked his hair, transferring as much of his energy as he could, concentrating on Wolfram's wrists. The demon had fallen silent once more, but he tried speaking anyway, just in case he could hear him. "I need you, love. If you die…"

"If he dies, you die too."

Murata raised his head, dazed. "Shinou?" His eyes narrowed with hatred when he saw him. "You—"

"Enough, Great Sage. I do not wish to hear your remonstrations and adolescent ranting." Shinou walked slowly over towards them. "It's rare that I show myself like this, but…" He sighed. "Circumstances made it inevitable. This was the only turn of events that I could agree on."

"You… you would have him die…"

Shinou met his gaze with steady coldness. "For your sake, of course, and for the Demon King's sake, I would offer him to be a sacrificial lamb. If it came to that, then yes, I would let him perish." He smiled. "I was the one who told you upon your waking of what was transpiring in the chamber beside yours. You would not have left had I not sent you that vision, and I couldn't send it unless it really was happening. I am glad that you finally escaped from that prison, Great Sage."

"But that has no meaning… not like this…"

"There is a meaning to everything," he said sternly. "This was the right path; it was not just I, but fate that chose it."

Murata held on even more tightly. _I will not let go of him like this, a puppet in your amusements. _"Shinou… I beg of you…"

"The rest is not up to me, Murata. I now abstain, and will let fate take its course. This choice belongs not to the Original King, but rather the trinity that will soon be divided." And with that, he vanished.

Yuuri burst into the tent, followed closely by Conrart and Gwendal. Jossak trailed behind them, comforting Gisela and assuring her that it wasn't her fault. All of them stopped dead at the sight.

For the first time in his life, Murata was weeping.

"No," Yuuri said in horror.

It was said that the Great Sage did not know how to cry—not counting, of course, his first cries as a newborn child. But apart from that, his eyes had been unstained by those sorrowful waters.

In all of his past incarnations, he had never shed a tear; not when he was being burned at the stake, not when he was being tortured, not when he was beaten and trodden upon and killed. He had stayed silent and unfathomable, a statue who bore pain without effort. And now he was screaming, his shriek roughened by his sobbing—shrieking with an unearthly anguish that made them stop their ears.

"Oh, Shinou," Conrart whispered, his eyes suddenly watery, leaning on Gwendal for support.

Murata didn't seem to hear him. If he had been aware of the soldier murmuring the name 'Shinou', he would likely have killed him on the spot; it was fortunate for Conrart that he was too caught up in his own sorrow to hear or see anything around him.

Yuuri started to approach them. "Murata!"

Jossak grabbed his arm, holding him back. "It's not safe, Your Majesty," he said in a low voice. "The Great Sage is nuts right now. If you tried to go anywhere near him or Lord Wolfram, you would likely be killed."

Gisela let out a breath that she hadn't been aware of holding. "Everyone, we should get out." She herded them out; all save for Yuuri.

"Wolf…" Murata's screaming had lowered to a desperate wail as tears streamed down his cheeks. "Wolfram, please…"

Yuuri bit his lip. _What can I do? _

There was a voice answering in his ear, sounding suspiciously like Shinou. "There is nothing more that you can do, Demon King. This is not your decision to make."

Wolfram took a shuddering breath before going still, and peace settled on him.

* * *

"Heh. So I'm dead?" Wolfram asked, slightly bemused. "Not exactly the way I pictured it, but then again, I never dwelled much on what would happen after I died. I was always too concerned with living."

"And I was perhaps your polar opposite," Shinou told him, seemingly coming out of nowhere. "I knew of what power I would have once I died—a god, almost, reigning over the demon kingdom."

Wolfram shrugged. "I'm glad," he said matter-of-factly.

Shinou raised his eyebrows. "You aren't dead yet, demon prince. Even as we speak, the Great Sage is doing his best to revive you—although I wonder whether he already views it as a lost cause."

"I'm not dead yet?"

"No. Why, do you want to be dead?"

He was troubled. "For a while, yeah, I did. But we're out. And the pain's starting to disappear. I haven't fulfilled my ambitions yet…" He sighed. "But it's too selfish of me to expect that they can get out without having to make _some _kind of sacrifice. And if it comes to that, I really want it to be me."

"Too selfless, demon prince." Shinou was scowling again. "I hate people like you… so spineless, so weak, so ready to give everything up for the sake of the ones that they love…"

"That's why it's called _love,_ Shinou. Because you would be willing to give it all up for them." He folded his arms across his chest. "I'm surprised. I thought that you would be a lot more venerable and wise."

Shinou purpled with rage. "Are you saying that I'm stupid?"

"No," Wolfram said simply. "I just wondered how someone as powerful and honored as you are doesn't know what it's like to love and be loved."

"It is precisely because I don't know about it that I'm powerful and honored." Shinou shook his head. "But my path and yours are far different."

"Hey, you're dead and I'm dying. We'll all end up the same way at the end of the road, so we can't really say that we're all that far from each other."

"Pathetic, little demon. Giving up so easily?"

"Succumbing to the inevitable with my head held high rather than kicking and screaming against it."

"I want to show you something." He drew the demon towards him and placed a hand atop Wolfram's head.

"Eh?" He blinked and gasped when he found himself looking at a completely different room.

"That," Shinou said, pointing, "is Murata."

Wolfram grimaced. "I…" They were in some human village, and the Great Sage was tied to a stake. There were people shouting, brandishing torches at the great pile of fire that supported him.

It was a good thing that Shinou had pointed him out, else he would never have been able to recognize him; the only thing similar was the black hair and eyes. Murata was taller, older, his face more lined; he looked different from the way Wolfram knew him. And yet there was that same steadiness and determination.

"Have you anything to say?" one man asked Murata grimly. Murata shook his head with decisiveness.

"Then burn, demon." Wolfram covered his mouth to muffle his gasp. He knew, somehow, that this was the past; and he knew that technically they weren't there. But he could have sworn that he smelled burnt flesh and he had to turn away from the sight of the Great Sage suffering silently as he went up in smoke.

"Why did you have to show me that?" he whispered to Shinou.

"And now this," Shinou said mercilessly. He watched as some jailer was stretching Murata's limbs on the rack. Murata didn't even blink as muscle and flesh were torn, instead staring unwaveringly up at the ceiling.

"That's enough!" Wolfram said.

"I have a dozen or more incidents to show you," Shinou said. "But those two will suffice. And this one, here, is for you. This is how they are all reacting to your death, Wolfram."

At once, Wolfram had to cover his ears as an otherworldly wail assailed them when he saw Murata and Yuuri by his body. Suddenly he became aware that it was _Murata _who was screaming as though his heart was being torn out of him.

"Murata, calm down!" Yuuri yelled, but the Great Sage didn't seem to hear him at all. It was as though his anguish had transported him into another dimension where he could neither see nor hear anything around him.

All he was aware of was his screaming.

"You see?" Shinou whispered as Wolfram spun around to face him, tears streaming down the demon prince's cheeks. "He never cried out once—until you came along. Until you died in his arms."

Wolfram swallowed hard as Shinou continued. "He said that your life is his; that if you died, he would too. And I'm afraid, Prince Wolfram, that I cannot let that happen. He must live. I don't want to see him die all over again."

"Shinou… you love him still…"

The Original King made no objection. "Perhaps it's just malice on my part… being spiteful merely because he's happy now. It would be difficult to try not to be jealous when he's acting with feelings and abandon that he never quite displayed towards me."

"So the two of you… were involved…"

Shinou shrugged. "It would have been almost impossible not to, considering how attracted we were to each other's intellect and capabilities. No… we were both arrogant little toerags, thinking ourselves quite above everyone else. So we had no one else to turn to in the end but to each other. But the ideological separation was inevitable. He stayed on to advise those on the mortal plane. I could not. There was too much power within my grasp here."

"Then… what?"

In a voice of absolute conviction, he replied, "Go back to him, little wolf. Live for him. But," he added softly, "it's time you decided whether you will live for him and love him at the same time."

Wolfram raised his head, eyes mirroring the confusion that he was feeling. "Tell me what I have to do."

* * *

Gwendal tried to say something but ended up closing his mouth again as he looked back at the tent when the sound of the Great Sage wailing his head off suddenly restarted. After taking a deep breath, he finally said, "I think that…" he trailed off. Soldier as he was—with the bravery to face down his own death—he didn't think that he had the courage to utter the words he was thinking.

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Jossak insisted, grabbing Conrart's arm. His captain looked stricken, but he forced himself to forge ahead. "Come on. We can't just…"

Gisela nodded slowly as she moved forward.

"He's not breathing," Yuuri whispered as they entered.

Wolfram lay silently on the cot, surrounded by a haze of blue light. "Murata…" Yuuri murmured. The Great Sage had finally fallen silent, focusing all his attention on the magic enveloping the demon.

"Hey," Wolfram mumbled. "Could you guys stop making so much noise?"

They all stopped in shock.

"YOU SLIMY LITTLE BRAT!" Yuuri suddenly roared. "You made us all scared for you for no reason!"

"Your Majesty!" Günter exclaimed, moving to restrain him. "Remember that Prince Wolfram is still injured!"

Wolfram opened one emerald eye and sat up with pained hesitation. "Ow. My ribs hurt like hell… I think I was dead. Or almost dead, and I was supposed to die… but Shinou sent me back." His eyes met Murata's and communicated what was left unsaid. _For you_.

_Thank you, Shinou, _Murata thought as Conrart hugged his younger brother, ignoring Wolfram's protests. Gisela was fussing over him already, while Jossak was trying to control Yuuri, who was ready to hit him on the head.

_I'm sorry, Great Sage. You know that sacrifices have to be made for this. This world is balance, and it cannot be tipped in one man's favor._

He nodded. _I'm aware. I believed that this would happen from the very beginning. I think I foresaw it, but I rather didn't want to say anything._

_Oho. So you're smarter than I am?_

_No, I simply know you too well, Shinou. Is this what you meant about the broken trinity?_

_Yes. I apologize again, Great Sage._

_It is unnecessary._

"Murata…" Wolfram raised his head to meet his gaze. "Could I speak to you for a moment?"

"Eh?" Yuuri said.

"In private," Wolfram clarified. He saw the glances being exchanged by Conrart and Jossak and suddenly suspected that they knew more than they let on. Did he somehow give himself away before? It could be that time when he and Murata were holding hands during the meeting. "Shinou has a message for you," he added to allay their misgivings.

"Could you all please leave?" the Great Sage asked.

Yuuri looked down. "Uh… could I talk to Wolf afterwards as well?"

"Yeah," Wolfram said. "I actually meant to speak to you later."

Gwendal briefly placed a hand atop Wolfram's head. "I'm glad that your back, little brother."

"Thank you," Wolfram said, looking up at him with gratitude. It was rare that his eldest brother showed any affection or emotion for him, and he was glad.

Gisela ushered them out. "Come on, people. We don't want to interfere with the Original King's orders, do we?" She smiled briefly at the two. "And Great Sage?"

"Yes?"

"Remember that he's still a patient, so don't keep him too long." She smiled sweetly. "Much as I respect your superiority, I would still have to break your neck if his condition takes a turn for the worse."

Murata grinned. "I'll remember, Gisela. Thank you."

When they had all left, Wolfram looked into Murata's eyes. "We need to talk."

* * *

Conrart silently stood near the tent flap, just enough so that he could hear them without being caught by the others. He pretended to engage in casual conversation with Jossak, who knew that his captain was really watching out for his younger brother. If Gwendal noticed anything of this, he made no comment, instead leading away the king to inspect the troops. Perhaps it was fortunate that Yuuri insisted on thanking the soldiers for all their efforts.

"Do you truly have a message for me from Shinou?" Murata asked.

Wolfram shook his head, tugging on the sleeves of his already shabby Bielefeld blue uniform. "Partly, yes. He says he's sorry and he wishes you the best of luck in all your endeavors. But mostly he just talked to me. About you… and me… and Yuuri. And… I…"

Murata took a deep breath and interrupted him. "Shibuya confessed to you, didn't he?"

"Yes, he did," Wolfram said, color flooding his cheeks. "While Devon held us hostage, he was there with me—he said that he kind of realized it. And I really don't want to choose… but Shinou said…"

"That you have to choose him for the good of the great demon kingdom?"

"No," Wolfram replied. "He said that I had to choose, but that's all."

Murata nodded with a smile as he stood up to go. "I'm glad… that means that Shinou's becoming a little wiser. And a little more benevolent as well. But you and I both know that there is no real choice for this matter." He kissed Wolfram on the cheek. "I suppose I should go now."

Wolfram's eyes widened. "No, Murata, wait!" he said, his hand reaching out and grabbing the Great Sage's.

"Wolf…"

"It's not… those last few days with you… they meant something, okay?" the prince said. "All I could think of was you, when I was locked up. And I was so sorry for landing you both in that mess. But I…"

The Great Sage sat down beside him. "Don't tempt me or I might do things that the others will hear, Wolf, now that I know this is really the last. I understand, love. I really do. But your destiny… that's not me, is it?" He laughed a little. "I sort of knew that this would happen. Believe me, I walked into this relationship knowing everything that would come with it. I was the one who told you that it would only last so long as Yuuri kept insisting that he didn't love you. Isn't that right?"

"Yes," Wolfram mumbled, looking down at his lap. What could he say to make things all right? He couldn't think of anything except clichés that would only leave a flat, empty impression on Murata. He said it so calmly, so rationally—but they both knew that there was no way to rationalize themselves. There was just no logic to be applied when hearts got hurt. "And I'm sorry. I love you."

"Love you too, Wolf," he said.

Wolfram nodded painfully. "I know." _I almost wish you didn't._

"No parting gift?" Murata tried to joke. "Oh well. We weren't exactly dating anyway. It's a lot different from what it would have been like back home on Earth. No phone numbers to erase, no pictures to rip up, no gifts to be returned..." _Only the regret. That stays the same no matter what world it's on._

The prince's gaze was intense. "You want one?" He pulled Murata towards him. "Because..." His voice broke at his selfishness. "I want one too." He took a deep breath. "Until you walk out... let's just pretend for a while. Let's pretend that we're not saying..."

"Wolf… you're wasting time," Murata murmured with a little smile as he put his lips over the demon's. "Once I'm out of here, it's over. Stop talking."

Wolfram closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around the Great Sage's shoulders. It was like Murata was putting every ounce of frustration and passion that he had into that one kiss, and after an eternity had passed he finally pulled away for air, feeling as though his lips had just been burned. _Please let time stop, just this once…_

"I love you," he whispered, burying his face in the Great Sage's black hair. Murata let him stay that way for a moment before he pulled away, glancing at his timepiece with a sigh.

"Thank you, Prince Wolfram." Murata gave him a short, courtly bow. "I shall call His Majesty now."

"Yes… thank you, Great Sage," Wolfram muttered, tears dripping down his face. He made no move to stop them, merely turned his back on Murata so that the Great Sage couldn't see.

He couldn't look, but he saw. He saw it all the same.

Murata came out, clenching and unclenching his fists. Conrart and Jossak both stepped aside hastily as he walked past them. "Shibuya…" He seemed to be struggling with himself about something, and for a moment he looked like he wanted to hit Yuuri rather badly. But finally he just settled for a sad smile. "Wolfram's waiting for you."

* * *

"Hey… Wolf… are you crying?"

Wolfram shook his head violently. "Ah… no, it's nothing. It's just that I still hurt all over." He gave a little shudder as he tried mopping at his face with his hands. "Ha… I'm really pathetic, aren't I?"

"No," Yuuri said, sitting beside him. "If it hurts too much, you should just rest first. It's too early for you to sit up."

"I'm not an invalid, Yuuri. I'm a soldier; I have to get accustomed to pain eventually." He tried to smile. "It's just…"

"I don't want you to become accustomed to pain."

Wolfram raised his head. "I beg your pardon?"

Yuuri was bright red, but he pretended not to notice. "I don't want you to have to learn what it means to get hurt. I want you to be safe… and sound… right here with me. I thought that I could protect you… but you were the one who always ended up protecting me instead."

"I've done nothing to deserve that praise, Yuuri. It's usually Conrart or Gwendal or… the Great Sage…" He bit his lip but continued. "They're the ones who you really rely on, not me."

"You're underestimating yourself." Yuuri tentatively put a hand on his shoulder. "You told me you would be all better. But you knew that you could die from the esoteric stones, didn't you?"

Wolfram looked away. "I'm sorry. But I tried to spare you from knowing, Yuuri."

"Why?"

"Because you would have signed the contract. And I really couldn't let that happen!"

"Are you nuts? You would have died just because of that?"

"It isn't 'nuts'! The Demon Kingdom…"

"…is nothing compared to your life! Don't you get it?" Yuuri glared at him. "Don't you understand that even if Murata and I had to go to the other world, Conrart and Gwendal would have made sure that we could reclaim the kingdom somehow? It would have turned out okay! I would even prefer to see you married to that Devon rather than watch you die."

"What about how _I _felt about that, Yuuri? If I were dead, it wouldn't have been a problem! Everything would have been resolved easily."

"Is that how you value your life?"

"Yes!"

Yuuri glowered at him. "Imagine, for a second, that you were in my shoes. You're totally clueless about it. And then afterwards you discover that you were the cause of my death. That you could have saved me, but you didn't because you didn't know. How do you think it feels, Wolfram?"

Wolfram was silent for a moment. "I guess it probably feels awful."

"I thought we were all going to lose you, just because I was stupid. And I was regretting all those years that you were right beside me and I took you for granted. It's silly, isn't it, that I had to wait for you to be kidnapped and almost killed before I finally realized how I really felt about you?"

The demon prince let out a chuckle. "That's because you're such a wimp, Yuuri." He sighed. "I can't believe I fell for a moron like you. I always thought that I would either end up with some pretty young girl or with someone strong like my brothers."

"Eh?! You already thought that you would have a _guy _as your partner?"

"I considered the possibility, of course. Oh yes… I keep forgetting that your world doesn't consider it absolutely normal the way we do." Wolfram shrugged. "And I was always what they call a 'pretty boy', so I got my fair share of attention from the male half. Although, now that I think about it, it doesn't hurt your chances with the female half of the population either."

Yuuri was flushed and coughing. "Ah…"

Wolfram grinned, playing with the bandages on his wrists. "I _knew _I could make you uncomfortable just by saying that. But yes, it was true. It's strange, though, that I ended up with a wimp like you…"

"Is that so?" Yuuri could still feel himself blushing, but he forced himself to lean a little closer to Wolfram. And when his fiancé smelled and looked this nice, it wasn't exactly extreme torture to do so. In fact, he realized that this proximity was actually

"Ah… Yuuri?" Wolfram said in an undignified squeak as Yuuri began invading his personal bubble. "Nn… what are you doing?"

"Maybe I'm just trying to show you how un-wimpy I really am," Yuuri said.

Wolfram burst out laughing. "Ouch… my ribs…" He kissed Yuuri gently on the cheek as he pushed him away. "Don't be stupid, you can only say that if you can tell me all those things without blushing."

"Hey Wolf… you never really told me exactly…" Yuuri stammered, still crimson. "I love you. And I want you to marry me. Will you?"

"Of course." Wolfram slipped his hand into the king's with a smile. "Of course I will."

Murata listened outside with a bleak smile. "Don't," he warned Conrart when the soldier approached him with a sympathetic expression on his face. "I don't want to hear it."

"But… Great Sage… I only…"

"Save it for someone who'll hear you, Lord Weller."

* * *

A/N: I hate myself. DAMN IT, MURATA AND WOLFRAM! YOU GUYS ARE IDIOTS!

Now you may now why the other ending I had in mind was completely different from this. On another note, if you guys DO want to know the changes I'd planned on, you can ask me to post them in the A/N of the epilogue. Yes, the epilogue is next. This is the last chapter, unless, as I said, you guys ask me to delete this one and replace it with the edited version.

As for the epilogue. THERE IS NO RAW VERSION. Which means that it will take me some time to write it. If it takes me another two years you guys can kill me, I promise.

Thanks for reading! I'd like to know what you guys think.


	10. Resolution

A/M: Lo and behold, looking through one of my very old USBs I found an extremely rough copy of the original Broken Trinity. Still not the ending I would have written had I still had the edited version of my story, but I figured it's better to at least post this much. I did a very minimum of editing on it but in the end I figured that the sooner I post this, the better, otherwise it'll probably rot in my archives again or worse, it'll be wiped out by another freak accident.

I apologize to all my readers. To be honest, I have long felt that this Kyou Kara Maou fanfic wasn't written with the best I could have offered, and in the end it was reading through my old chapters that seriously failed to motivate me to keep writing. If it weren't for all the amazing feedback I've received, both critical and complimentary, then I probably wouldn't have bothered even posting this ending. So I love you guys. Next time I venture in this fandom, I'll be sure to make it a lot better. Thank you for being with me through this entire fanfic. This is for you guys, and for starlight2005, best friend and the dinosaur collector.

* * *

Epilogue: Resolution

"Mother's being ridiculously cheerful," Wolfram complained, shaking his head. He let out an exasperated sigh at the sight of golden garlands and streamers bedecking the halls. "Honestly, we don't need all this fuss!"

Conrart chuckled. "Wolfram, we've been planning this wedding for a half a year now. You were the one who wanted it to be grandiose in the first place. Aren't you happy that mother's putting so much effort into it?"

Wolfram stuck his tongue out at him. "No! And the only reason I made all those ridiculous plans was because I was hyper at the time. I wasn't being serious!"

"Typical bridal stress," Jossak snickered.

The blonde prince aimed a well-placed tongue of fire at him, which he dodged by barely a hairpin turn. "The wedding isn't until next week, and please DON'T CALL ME A BRIDE UNLESS YOU WANT ROASTED JOSSAK TO BE THE MAIN COURSE OF MY WEDDING!"

"He likes to believe that _he's _the groom," Lady Cecilie clarified with a trill in her voice, her eyes all sparkly as she directed the servants to move the chairs.

"I do not like to _believe _that I am the groom," growled Wolfram, slamming a fist down on the table, sending the golden candleholders flying. "I just refuse to be seen as the weaker one in my relationship with that WIMP!"

Yuuri looked up from his book. "Wolf, love, honestly, they can call us whatever they want and I'll still be your wimp."

"Good line," Jossak said approvingly. "That'll keep him from blowing his top."

"IT WOULD HAVE IF YOU DIDN'T SPOIL IT!"

Gwendal looked up from his papers in irritation. "May I remind the two of you that I'm still working on the security details for the wedding?"

"Yeah, yeah, you have everything covered ranging from a demented sheep zooming in and a pirate crew kidnapping us. It's really unnecessary!" Yuuri protested. "It's not that we don't appreciate your efforts, but don't you think that it's kind of overkill?"

Murata spoke up for the first time. "Of course the safety of the king and royal consort are a top priority."

"Ah… yeah, of course," Yuuri said, abashed. Wolfram said nothing, merely lowered his head and started arranging the flowers on the table even though the maids had already taken care of it.

He still wasn't forgiven. A teardrop splashed on the table but he only pretended that it was water from the vase. It was poor acting, and he knew that Conrart and the others probably saw through it (let alone Murata). It had already been half a year, but there was still that wall between them. Maybe it hadn't helped that that half a year had been filled with his engagement to Yuuri and plans for their wedding, and maybe if Wolfram hadn't tried so hard to pretend that it was all right and they were all still a happy group, maybe then it would have been all right.

It wasn't even the fact that Murata still seemed to blame him that got on his nerves; it was the fact that Murata had just shut everyone out. He rarely spoke anymore, and he spent more time at the temple with Ulrike (honestly, Wolfram couldn't pretend that he wasn't a little bit jealous). He wanted to see the Great Sage smiling again.

"Wolf, you're mangling the flowers."

Wolfram blinked, releasing a handful of petals and leaves from decapitated stems onto the table. "Ah. I didn't quite like the color arrangement," he said haughtily. "I'm going to my room, okay?"

Ever since he and Yuuri had announced that their engagement had become official and that they would be setting a date for the wedding, Wolfram had insisted on getting his own room since it would be highly improper for the two of them to share one and he felt that he was being bothersome to the Great Sage.

Yuuri complained a lot about it since the only reason why Wolfram had moved in with him in the first place was because they were engaged and that he should just return to the royal chambers, but the prince stuck to it stubbornly.

Still, the only times Wolfram went there were to sleep, dress, and sulk. And seeing as he had the first two bases covered, Yuuri didn't really like knowing that his fiancé was worrying over something. He preferred having Wolfram talk about his problems with him—he was still wondering whether the demon was carrying a burden too intense for him to bear. He had gotten that feeling ever since Wolfram had recovered. "But, ah, Wolf…"

The prince silenced Yuuri with a look. Then he softened. "I think I'll go see Greta instead, then."

"Is he well?" Gwendal inquired when he was gone. His gaze was penetrating through Yuuri's flesh and bone. "You two haven't had a fight, have you?"

"No, of course not," Yuuri said, miffed. "He and I are getting along just great."

"Just pre-wedding jitters, I'm sure," Murata said calmly, trailing after Wolfram the way he used to. "No need to worry, Your Majesty."

"I guess he's right," Yuuri agreed when Murata was gone. "After all, we only have a little time left before the wedding."

* * *

"You lied to His Majesty," Murata said coolly as he followed Wolfram to his bedroom. "I think it can be considered treasonous."

Wolfram swallowed hard, ignoring the aloofness of his tone. He was willing to overlook almost anything in light of the fact that for the first time in a long while, Murata was actually following him. Usually he went out of his way to avoid him. "I did, but for good reason. I don't want him to worry about me. I don't think that he'll sentence me to death just for that." He opened his door and turned around. The Great Sage followed him in without waiting for an invitation. "Ah?"

Murata kept his gaze locked on Wolfram's. "I'm sorry that I'm breaching protocol right here and now, Lord von Bielefeld, but it can't be helped. I… wish to talk to you."

"You… want… to talk?" Wolfram felt his cheeks flushing and his heart beating uncontrollably. He had wanted to approach Murata so many times, and he had tried on occasion, but the Great Sage had invariably pushed him away. Murata had always been busy with something—some temple duty, going back home… and now, finally, they were talking alone.

"Yes, I did, Lord von Bielefeld."

"Please… Great Sage… could you just call me Wolfram?"

"I'm afraid I'm more comfortable with addressing you by your title right now. After all, it would be rather rude and forward for us to call each other by names when we have no ties to each other."

"Oh." There wasn't much else to say, was there? No ties… what a lovely way to call a few weeks together, a few weeks of being willing to die for each other. "Sorry." He bit his lip. "What exactly did you want to say?"

"I don't wish for you to worry about me anymore," he said flatly. "It's written all over your face. Lord Weller has been expressing his concern about the two of us, and frankly, it's bothersome."

Wolfram turned red and then white, the blood draining completely out of his face. "I'm… I'm sorry?"

"You heard what I said, didn't you?" Murata's eyes seemed to look through him instead of at him. "It irritates me! I don't want to hear any of it. After all, we were both just fooling around, weren't we?"

"Fooling… around?"

"Yeah. Until you got Shibuya. It was all supposed to be a temporary arrangement; I was bored, and you were desperate, I suppose. It was a bit of fun, I guess, but I have my duties and you have His Majesty. And now that it's over, I don't like it when people treat me like a sick little puppy just because of a quick fling. Shouldn't they be more worried about _you_? And the same goes for you worrying about me. I hate seeing you watch me like that. It's annoying."

"I… I see." Wolfram nodded slowly. "I'm sorry." He bowed, letting his body go on autopilot. As a nobleman, hadn't he gone through many awkward moments like this? He seemed to know exactly what to say even as his brain was going numb, screaming at him to say something. "I was mistaken in expressing anxiety over you. I'm afraid that I was overreacting to certain situations. In view of my emotional nature, I hope that you will forgive me."

The Great Sage turned to leave. "I apologize for the intrusion, Lord von Bielefeld. It was very rude of me."

The demon clenched his hands into fists. "I thought you loved me."

He paused, as though trying to frame his answer in the right words. "Perhaps I did, Lord von Bielefeld. On the other hand, did you really expect me to stay like this when you have His Majesty? You were sadly mistaken, weren't you? It was foolish and selfish to the extreme."

"Murata!"

"And I would prefer it if you called me Great Sage, although I'm sure that you know that as the consort apparent you are free to address me as you will."

Wolfram covered his mouth with his hand, biting back a sob. "All right, Great Sage. Thank you for enlightening me. Please leave."

Murata hesitated. "If you feel unwell, I can fetch His Majesty for you."

"No! Don't get Yuuri." Wolfram was leaning on the wall for support. "I'll be fine in a moment." Tears were leaking out of the corners of his eyes even though he was trying to hold them back. "It's just… my heart hurts."

"I beg your pardon?"

"My _head _hurts," Wolfram corrected himself. "I'll be fine by myself. You may go."

Murata said nothing as he left. The moment he closed the door behind him, he sighed as he leaned against it. The hurt in Wolfram's eyes… would he ever be able to forget it? _Damn it, it's not like I wanted to…_ He sighed. It was what was best for the both of them… there was no other way to handle it.

"Eh?" Yuuri said as he passed by. "What's up, Murata?"

"Nothing at all, Your Majesty. I believe Lord von Bielefeld is feeling unwell at the moment, though."

"I thought he was with Greta."

The Great Sage shook his head. "No, he didn't go to see Princess Greta. He is currently inside. Perhaps it would be wise to see him."

"O… okay. Are you all right, Murata? You look kind of funny."

He nodded stiffly. "Of course, Your Majesty. And if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to the temple."

"Why do you always stay there now anyway? You used to spend a lot more time here in the castle."

He let out a low laugh. "Perhaps there, I can find some measure of peace… even if I can never forget."

* * *

"Wolf?"

The prince was curled up on his bed, tears still dripping from his eyes. "Did he send you? I told him not to," he said, hiccupping as he wiped at his runny nose. "I said that I would be fine in a bit."

Yuuri held out a handkerchief to him. "Here." He dabbed at the demon's face. "What's wrong?"

"Just a headache," Wolfram whispered.

"I… I don't understand what's going on between you two… but…"

"What do you mean?" Wolfram asked.

"I'm not completely oblivious, Wolf, even though I probably act like it sometimes. I don't know… are you two, ah, involved?" Yuuri stroked his hair. "I mean… you _were _sleeping in his room. And sometimes I caught Conrart looking at you guys kind of weird whenever you two are together… or more often, when you two act like strangers towards each other."

_I can't lie. _"He and I…"

"So…" Yuuri rubbed at the back of his neck. "Is it my fault? If it weren't for me, would you two be together?"

"I don't know."

"Well… do you still love him?"

He turned away. "Don't ask me that question, Yuuri. Please… don't…"

"Then… why are you marrying me? I don't want to force you into anything…"

Wolfram interrupted him. "Because I love you. It may sound selfish and stupid, but I love the two of you… a lot. But I choose you, Yuuri." He clasped the double black's hand in his. "Don't you see? We were the past… he called it a fling…" He buried his face in Yuuri's shoulder. "He said that it was all for fun, until I got you. And that he was sick of being looked after like a sick puppy."

"Oh, Wolf… I'm so sorry. If I'd pulled my act together a little quicker, this might not have happened. It hurt all of us in the process." He pulled the blonde closer to him. "I'm sorry."

"No, don't be. I'm just glad that you're here with me now."

"Did you… ah… did you… sleep with him?"

Wolfram hiccupped again. "No, I didn't. He barely even touched me." He smiled a little. "I think it was partly because he knew that this would happen. And also a little bit because I once told him to stop. But he and I never… you know," he said, a faint blush tinting his cheeks.

"Oh," Yuuri said, also red. "Er…"

"Don't act so embarrassed! You were the one who asked me about it. And I suppose that you have the right to know."

Yuuri nodded, looking slightly troubled. "And now I have another question for you."

"Okay… shoot."

"Did you… I mean… were you together with Devon from before?"

Wolfram looked horrified and he pulled away from Yuuri. "No, of course not! How could you even suggest such a thing?"

"Well… he was so hell-bent on getting you to marry him and all that," Yuuri said sheepishly. "So I thought that maybe he loved you because you two were seeing each other. And you _did _come back once in his clothes, so that looked pretty bad. But I guess it was a one-sided sort of thing, wasn't it?"

"But of course! You didn't honestly think that I would ever get involved with one of my men, did you? I'm shocked at you, Yuuri. You obviously haven't been studying protocol at all." He snorted. "Honestly, the very idea. My soldiers and I had a strict commander-follower relationship."

"They were all crazy about you!"

Wolfram blinked. "Were they?"

"What! And they call _me _oblivious?"

* * *

"Your Majesty," Murata said in acknowledgement without looking up from the storybook he was reading Greta. "Greetings."

Yuuri flushed from the doorway. He still didn't really get how Murata did the whole eyes-in-the-back-of-his-head thing, and it still freaked him out a little bit, even though he was used to it by now. "Murata, could you stop calling me that?"

"I would prefer it if—"

"That's an order."

"As you wish, Shibuya," he said indifferently, turning the book's pages. "Is there any specific reason why you are confronting me as such, or do you intend to spend some quality time with Princess Greta?"

The double black glared at him. "Stop acting like that, would you?"

"I beg your pardon?"

Greta stood up, shaking her head. "I'm going to leave you two alone now. I think you guys have something important to talk about. If you want me later, I'll be with Conrart and Jossak."

Murata shrugged at her and smiled a little. "I apologize for this rude interruption in our little story, Princess Greta."

She sighed. "I wish you would get over it, Murata. And I told you—it's just Greta, not _princess_."

"Spoiled little minx, isn't she?" Yuuri said, his eyes following her as she bounded out of the room. "I think she's the only one of lower rank than you who would dare address you that way."

"Indeed. I take no offense at her antics, in any case." Murata closed the book and replaced it on one of Greta's shelves. "I believe you had something to discuss with me?"

"You sound like you have some big etiquette book stuffed up your ass, Murata. Why don't you talk to me and Wolf the way you used to?"

"Things have changed, as people do."

"You're hurting everyone around you, you know. It's so selfish!"

"Selfish? Wonderful," Murata said, losing his temper. "For the first time in my life, I'm being selfish. Deal with it!" He glared at the king, his arms crossing on his chest defensively. "Why is it such a big deal to you guys? I'm trying to make this easier for everyone! Don't you get it?"

"No, I don't. Maybe if you tried explaining it to me, I would understand. Wolfram's… I don't know, okay?" He rubbed at the back of his neck. "Please. Make me get it somehow."

"I can't do that, Shibuya." The Great Sage locked eyes with him. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. I knew that things would happen like this, but I went ahead anyway. And if I'm being horrible to Lord von Bielefeld, then I'm sorry. But I really can't do anything about it, all right?"

Yuuri held up his hands in surrender. "Okay. This is just between the two of you now. I don't know what part I play in this, except that I was an idiot… and maybe if I weren't here, the two of you would be better off."

Actually… Murata considered that statement for a moment. He would probably be offered the position. Or maybe Gwendal. And hadn't Devon already made a rational outline of what would happen?

The demon lords would acknowledge you as king if ever His Majesty happened to die anyway. Or if not, you would at least be regent or adviser while someone like Lord Walde takes the throne. And they wouldn't object to you marrying Prince Wolfram.

He shuddered. "Stop it, Shibuya. Don't even mention the possibility."

"Well, why not? It's the truth."

The light flashed off Murata's glasses, hiding his expression from Yuuri. "Because if you put ideas like that in my head, I'll be sorely tempted to act on them." The words were out of his mouth before he could help himself. "Shibuya, please… I'm fine. This'll all be a laugh and a half someday. But for now, I know that I'm hurting people. And I can't stop myself."

Yuuri flinched and nodded slowly. "Okay. So, uh, I also came around to invite you to our bachelor party. Basically Wolf and I just decided to have it together, because he would have made _me _take the bridal shower otherwise. And I would never have lived that down, especially since Shori's coming."

"Oh, your brother."

"Yep, him." Yuuri grinned sheepishly. "He's still kind of annoyed that I'm marrying a guy—old prejudices are hard to get rid of. He would kill both Wolfram and me if he thought that I was the 'girl' in the relationship. But of course mom's thrilled. She says she's never seen a prettier person than Wolfram."

Murata chuckled. "That sounds like your mom, all right. And Wolfram _is _extraordinarily beautiful." Suddenly, just at that last sentence, he seemed to be on guard again. "All right, Shibuya, I'll go to your bachelor party. If you'll excuse me, I'll be seeing Princess Greta now."

"Why don't you just open your heart for once, Murata?"

The Great Sage looked ready to throttle him for that careless statement. "Your Majesty, I did once, and it had the worst of repercussions."

* * *

That night, Wolfram dreamt—alone in his chambers, and yet not alone; it was like looking into a mirror. "Shinou," he said, sitting up and rubbing at his eyes. He felt vaguely ridiculous in his translucent pink nightgown, but really, he was sure that Shinou had watched over him before in this sort of apparel, so it didn't really matter, did it? "Ah… this is unexpected. It seems that you've been frequenting demon dreams more lately." He smiled wryly. "And I heard that it was rare for you to visit the earthly plane."

"That's true, actually," Shinou said. "But the trinity interests me, and I simply can't hold back." He smiled at Wolfram. "Little prince, you've hurt the Great Sage rather badly, haven't you? That insensitive idiot doesn't understand anything. And I suppose he's hurt you too, so I think that's what they call 'even'."

Wolfram was silent a moment. "I guess that's one way of putting it. So, are you here to tell me that I should let him go? That I should stop trying to make him feel better about the whole thing?"

"Well… I don't think that he'll really ever 'feel better' about the whole thing, but I think that he's sunk to the lowest depths this time," Shinou said. "Honestly, at least that time when he and Yuuri got themselves locked up, they could use that trite excuse of being noble. Now he's just playing the spurned lover and really, it's just _so _embarrassing for me to look at him and realize that I'm still crazy about someone acting as pathetic as he is."

The prince smirked. "You really are quite the character, Shinou."

"And _you _are as cheeky as ever," Shinou said, smirking back. "But I'll take that as a compliment."

Wolfram shrugged. "I think I got a bit less impressed with you." He grinned at the Original King's offended expression. "But I like you better this way. You're a little bit more real." He smiled softly. "A bit like me, or Murata sometimes. You don't have all the answers, and you have a peculiar way of reacting to situations."

"Little demon, I not only _react _to situations, I _make _them," Shinou drawled.

"Is this the part where you pass on some wonderful advice to me so that I know what to do to make everything right again?"

"Sadly, no. That would make things too easy, wouldn't it?" Shinou wrinkled his nose when he noticed what Wolfram was wearing. "You are so girly. How can you wear that and still be considered a great, fearsome fighter? But back on topic, I can offer you options. As I've already told you, I am not all-powerful. There is no singular path where everything becomes right again."

"That philosophy is just plain unfair," Wolfram grumbled. "But I'm sure that you know a great many paths where everything _would _be all right again. But of course you won't tell me." He scowled.

"It would be unfair to expect me to, little pet wolf."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because Murata's being a fool. A lovesick one. He really believes that what he's doing is for your own good, demon prince." Shinou let out a short bark of laughter. "Although _why _he thinks that is completely unreasonable. I thought that with his superior intellect he would at least be able to look at the shortcomings of his plan. The fault, however, doesn't lie with him."

"It's my fault…"

"You're a silly child too, then. I never said it was your fault, and you're acting like an overly dramatic soap opera actor." He ignored the puzzled question in Wolfram's eyes that seemed to ask, _what the heck is a soap opera actor? Is it someone who sings on stage with a bar of soap? _He smirked, imagining the demon asking Yuuri that and the expression on the king's face. "But I don't expect as much from you; you haven't lived as long, and your emotions have too powerful a grip on you. That's who you are."

"I'm going to walk down that aisle, Shinou. I already made up my mind about that. But I don't want to let go of Murata."

Shinou wrinkled his nose. "That's selfish of you."

"I don't mean I want to possess him, although I'm sure that I can't control my jealousy…" Wolfram grimaced as he remembered a particularly nasty encounter with Ulrike just that week. Ooh… he had already apologized to the temple priestess, but she was still rather cool around him. "But I don't want him to hate me, Shinou. Even if it meant nothing at all to him."

The Original King raised his eyebrows. "You truly believe that it meant nothing to him?"

Wolfram paused. "No, I don't. I think that it meant just as much to him as it did to me. I saw it somehow in his eyes, and I don't think I'll ever forget that look. No… it wasn't nothing. It wasn't a 'fling', as he called it. Even if he's disenchanted now, it meant something." He gathered the silk covers in his balled fists. "He just doesn't want to admit it now."

"He thinks he's protecting you, you know. That if you forget him it'll be better for the both of you. But maybe he's fooling himself, Prince Wolfram. Maybe he just doesn't want to admit how much he still wants you. Because he knows that if he tries to carry you off, you'll spurn him… and I'm sure that's a hard fact for him to accept."

"I see." Wolfram nodded. "Ah, Shinou? Could you possibly…?"

"Excuse you? Go on, by all means." Shinou pulled the other blonde to his feet. "Go to him, Wolfram. He needs you. Even if he tries to hide it, even if he convinces you—and himself—that it's better this way. Even if you officially belong to someone else, a part of you is his." He tapped Wolfram's nose with slight playfulness. "And don't forget it, little demon."

* * *

At first he thought he was dreaming. It would be just like Shinou to send him something like this… but then again, even if Shinou decided to make him dream of Wolfram, he doubted that it would occur to the original king to attire the demon prince in his pink nightgown. "Lord von Bielefeld?" he murmured, sitting up and pushing his glasses on, squinting at the apparition. "What are you doing here?"

"Is this a 'breach of protocol', then?" Wolfram asked him softly, taking unsure steps towards him. "Do you want me to leave?"

"Yes, I do."

Wolfram shrugged. "Tell me again when I'm going to listen."

He swallowed hard. "Lord von Bielefeld, if there's nothing that you need…"

"Murata… there is something which I do need." Wolfram was silhouetted against the window, the moonlight turning his golden hair silver. "I need you to stop this farce. Do you think that I love you any less just because I'm getting married to Yuuri?" He dipped his head so that he was closer to the Great Sage. "Do you think that I wanted to choose?"

"Why did you have to?"

Wolfram let out a short laugh. "Just _because_, Murata." He sighed, closing his eyes. "I am selfish." He paused. "And you're probably thinking that I'm right."

Murata blushed. Wolfram never used to be so good at reading people's minds. In fact, now that he thought about it, he was almost as dense as Yuuri was sometimes.

"But you… and I…" Wolfram blinked. "I didn't want to choose, but I did; sometimes you have to, Murata. And maybe I didn't make the right choice, but I think that I did." He held out a hand for the Great Sage to take, but he didn't take it. He drew it back. "You remember that time when I almost died?"

"How could I forget?" The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"Shinou showed me what would happen, if I didn't marry Yuuri. And I _do _love Yuuri." He looked at Murata. "He said that he told you what would happen if you and I ever ran away for the sake of our own happiness. It's true, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," Murata said, suddenly feeling ashamed.

"I don't want that to happen." His slight weight made the mattress dip down as he sat beside Murata. "I love the Demon Kingdom. And I love Yuuri." He looked into the pain in Murata's face. "And I love you. I don't want to come to hate you. And that's what would have happened if the two of us abandoned all of this."

Murata began to laugh painfully, the tension of a year and a half seeming to spread and lift from him as the sound wrenched itself from his body. "I'm an idiot," he said, leaning his head on Wolfram's shoulder. _I thought that I could be satisfied with whatever scraps of affection you gave to me—and then I became jealous even when I knew my earlier promise. But I'd rather have whatever you throw my way than suffer without anything of you._

"Murata, love…"

The Great Sage blinked. Usually it was _he _who called Wolfram that, and the pet name sent shivers down his spine. His resolve broke—not that it had been very firm in the first place. "Wolf…"

"Don't leave me."

"But you're the one who's leaving me, love."

Wolfram smiled strangely. "You know what Shinou said? Even if I technically belong to someone else, a part of me will always belong to you."

He didn't hesitate. "Okay. I'll take what I can get."

The prince frowned. "I wanted you to find someone else… someone who would make you happy. At least, that's what I thought I wanted at first."

"I swore, love. I made a promise not to love anyone other than you." Murata's touch was tender as he brushed the hair out of Wolfram's eyes.

"And besides, I kind of realized that I would probably tar and feather whatever wench set her sights on you."

Murata bit his lip to keep from laughing, but the demon's giggles set him off. "I missed you."

"Missed you too, 'Great Sage'. Or can I call you Murata again? Is that still 'a breach of protocol' since we have no ties to each other?"

The Great Sage pulled him close. "Shut up."

"Sure this isn't considered 'treason'?" he asked sweetly, leaning into the embrace.

"It is," Murata said matter-of-factly, the words muffled slightly as he buried his face into the scent of Wolfram's hair. "But I really don't care."

"Good, because neither do I." Wolfram smiled sadly at him. "Do you think Yuuri will understand?"

"If it's Shibuya, he will."

"...Yuuri doesn't really need to know right away."

"Yeah." Someday, maybe someday, they would be able to hold each other openly. The awareness that Yuuri was half-human and therefore more mortal than Wolfram would ever be... and he, Murata, could come back, again and again. Someday perhaps Yuuri would not be there. But he, Murata, would be.

There was that unspoken agreement between them. Neither of them would mention it to anyone. And perhaps they would continue to come together sometimes, just to embrace and to laugh about what could have been. Maybe. But they would never go beyond that, because he was someone else's.

Still, Murata held him close. Because a part of Wolfram was still his.

* * *

"Oh… Wolf, you look beautiful."

Wolfram blushed. "Be quiet," he snapped, trying not to look pleased. He adjusted the white and gold uniform that he had donned specifically for this occasion. "I'm getting married," he said into the mirror. Then he blinked. "I think I'm going to be sick."

Murata laughed. "Well, _that's _a nice way of putting it," he chastised. He pulled the demon over. "Your collar's all funny," he said, adjusting it.

"Thanks," Wolfram said, not minding when Murata took a little longer than was strictly necessary. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Conrart, Gwendal, Jossak and Günter's questioning glances. He merely smiled at them innocently, and they all looked away.

"Too bad Shibuya's mom couldn't get you to agree to wear a dress."

Wolfram nearly purpled with rage. "I AM NOT THE GIRL IN THE RELATIONSHIP!"

"Oh, really?" Murata's eyes twinkled mischievously. "I wasn't aware that _you _were the type to take the initiative in this sort of thing. You were more the feminine type, the one relentlessly pursued before finally giving in…"

Wolfram reddened and looked away. "That's different," he mumbled, just low enough for Murata to hear. "Okay… I'm ready."

Lady Cecilie squealed at him. "Oh Wolfie! You look adorable!"

"I don't want to look ADORABLE!"

"You look very distinguished," Conrart offered, by way of consolation.

Wolfram paused, hesitated a moment, then finally gave in and hugged him. "Thanks." Conrart looked slightly nonplussed as Wolfram pulled away, and Lady Cecilie kept giggling at his expression.

"Is Greta ready?"

"Flower girl's all accounted for," Gwendal confirmed. Günter was presiding over the ceremony, much to Wolfram's worry (Günter had cried buckets for months when they had announced their official engagement). "And I already had a word with Günter. Don't worry."

"Thanks, brother," Wolfram said. He did not hug Gwendal, but he nodded solemnly.

Anissina punched Gwendal in the arm. "Hug. _Now_."

Gwendal let out a little squeak before briefly squeezing Wolfram. He glared at Anissina, who was laughing along with Greta.

"Don't be too tense, now, Gwendal," Lady Cecilie chastised. "After all, Wolfie's going to be married today!"

Murata offered Wolfram his arm. "Ready to walk down that aisle?" At the altar, Yuuri was waiting for him, dressed all in black and gold (ignoring his mother's wails about how black was inappropriate for the wedding). Yuuri was waiting. And Murata was offering him his arm to lead him there.

Wolfram hesitated just a moment before accepting. "Yes."

-end-

* * *

A/N: And there you go. It was a long ride to finish this out. I'm kind of glad it's over. :)

Additional edit: I'm starting on a new Kyou Kara Maou fanfic and I'm wondering if anyone would be interested in beta-reading it. For some reason I can't get into the same sort of natural high for KKM that I get for my other fandom I'm writing for. If you're interested, please let me know!


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